Dimension Traveller
by Cubismus
Summary: Long before Harry even knows about Hogwarts, he knows that he has "powers". He runs away from the Dursley and survives on his own. But when he is hurt and lost, his magic fulfills him his biggest wish: a family. His family, which is still alive in a different dimension. Only that nothing is ever easy with Harry and he will need time until he trusts and is trusted.
1. The Prophecy

**Dear all,**

 **this is my new story. This time a Harry Potter based fanfiction. Our Harry, before he joins Hogwarts, runs away from Hogwarts and ends up in an alterninative dimension.**

 **I don't own Harry Potter and I don't make any money out of writing this fanfiction.**

 **This chapter is short, but every other will have between 1000-3000 words, so no worries. Enjoy reading it!**

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 **Alternative Universe: June 1986**

" _Merlin's heir will rise to vanquish the Dark Lords... never born in one world and not loved in the other… the Dark lord had marked him as his equal in the other world, but he has power neither of the Dark Lords will never know... Merlin cannot live while the Dark Lords resides, the Dark Lords will die if Merlin survives."_

Dumbledore looked at the prophecy one last time. Then he closed the lid of the flask tightly. He gave it to his phoenix.  
"When the time is right, my old friend, give it to the dimension traveller." Dumbledore whispered to the bird. "It had been an honour to be your friend, Fawkes. But my time has come."

The old wizard rose from his chair. Voldemort was going to attack the ministry today to find the prophecy. Never should Tom Riddle learn about this prophecy.

Knowledge was power, and Dumbledore would not give his former student this power.

Even if that meant, that Dumbledore would never return again.


	2. Dinner with the Marauders

The story starts of in the past. Just to make the premise of the story clearer. Harry will join the plot soon enough!

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 **Canon Dimension: Summer 1977**

"I really don't understand why I have to help you cook for your freak friends." Petunia mumbled, while she was cutting some carrots. The Marauders were coming to visit Lily. Petunia had been particularly nasty the past few days, because Mrs. Evans had asked her to prepare food with Lily.

Last week Lily had been at James place. The house was only a short drive away and her parents came to pick her up. Mr. and Mrs. Evan had been amazed by the Potter manor, the polite, handsome boy and surprisingly also by his friends, Sirius, Peter and Remus. Lily wouldn't have invited them. She knew her sister would be horrible to the boys. While James pretended to be this mild-mannered boy in front of her parents, she doubted that he could keep his temper, if Petunia accused them of being freaks. But her parents had generously invited all of the boys for dinner.

"You don't have to help me. I'm fine on my own." Lily answered. Her eyes were burning as she was cutting onion.

"Ha! And then I will be the bad sister again, who can't even help her little sister with a stupid dinner for her freak friends." Petunia sneered. Petunia was much more practised in cooking. Lily only cooked a few times during summer, Petunia was cooking for their parents every evening since she came home from work earlier than mum.

"I won't tell." Lily argued. But Petunia snickered.

"You will ruin this dinner, if you try it alone. Cut the peppers, when you are done with onion." She ordered Lily.

Petunia then went into the dining room and came back with a chair. She climbed on it and started looking through one of the cupboards.

"Where is that big pot?" She voiced under her breath. "Ah! There."

Petunia's head was inside of the cupboard and she made muffeled noises as she tried to reach something. Then there was a loud cracking noise. The cupboard fell from the wall and before the girls could do anything, the cupboard fell on Petunia. The older girl screamed. Lily saw a big bleeding wound on Petunia's forehead.

"Tuney! Oh god, are you alright?" Lily yelled worried about her sister. She ran over to her. Petunia pulled her self up on the kitchen counter. She touched her forehead and she seemed confused, when her fingers came back bloodied.

"I will go get dad. He will drive you to the hospital!" Lily explained and ran to get her father. The dinner would have to be cancelled. Hopefully, Petunia would be alright.

* * *

 **Alternative Dimension:** **Summer 1977**

Lily and Petunia had just been cooking for the Marauders, when the cupboard was falling down on the older of the two sisters. Lily's accidental magic was just quick enough to prevent the cupboard falling down on Petunia. The heavy wooden cupboard and all the port were levitated in the air. Gently Lily put it down on the floor next to Petunia.

"You did magic!" Petunia shouted confused and exasperated. "You said they would kick you out of school, if you do magic!"

"It… it… was an accident." Lily stammered. "They will understand."

"What if they don't?" Petunia argued.

Lily gulped. She would definitly get kicked out of Hogwarts.

"It was only a small thing. They will send me a warning. At most." Lily explained, but rather to calm herself than her sister. Petunia's face was an unreadable mask.

"Thanks, Lily." Petunia finally answered.

"Uh, what?"

"The cupboard could have crushed me." Petunia admitted. "You saved my life."

Lily blushed. "I would always save you, you know. You are my sister. I love you."

At that Petunia blinked. There was a long silence between the girls.

"Chop the peppers." Petunia finally said. "I will clean up this mess. Your friends are coming soon."

They were just quick enough to finish cleaning and cooking before the door bell rang. In a cherish mood Lily ran to the main entrance and greeted her friends. Petunia followed her rather hesitantly. Lily greeted James with a kiss, while Sirius teased them laughingly. Remus was the only one, who politely took off his shoes and commented on how beautiful the house was. James eyes were only fixed on Lily. If they would ask him the next day, how Lily's house looked like, he would probably not remember a thing. Peter was like always a bit more hesitant. He was the shiest of the three boys. James was an over-confident about everything, Sirius just didn't care about what others thought about him and Remus relied on his sharp mind to outsmart everyone. Peter was different. He never talked much, and it puzzled most of the Hogwarts' students, why the Marauders kept him around.

To Lily's surprise Petunia walked over to the shy boy and took his coat from him. They exchanged a few words, but Lily couldn't hear, what they talked. James and Sirius were telling her about the weird Muggle transportation they took to get here. But Lily barely listened, she was too worried about the interaction between Petunia and Peter. Peter was now explaining something extensively and suddenly Petunia started laughing loudly.

Everybody turned to them. Petunia kept laughing and Peter had a proud grin on his face. Lily was confused. Shy, little Peter had made her bitter, older sister laugh?

The dinner was pleasant. Petunia was actually chatting with all of the boy. She didn't use the word "freak" even once.

"Uh, guys" Peter interrupted the dinner at some point. "My dad is hosting this big party over at our house. Maybe you guys want to come?"

"You already invited us." James answered a bit annoyed. "Of course, we will come."

"Yes, you don't have to remind us every day.", Sirius added. Remus mumbled something that resembled an agreement, while stuffing one more potato in his mouth.

Peter's head got red. He his gaze was fixed on the carrots, which were left on his plate.

"Petunia, if you want, you can come too.", he invited Lily's sister. James and Sirius exchanged an exasperated look. Then Sirius' eyes light up and he smirked knowingly. Lily felt Remus kicking the other boy under the table.

"I would love to come." Petunia answered. And suddenly Lily's eyes started to fill with tears. James took Lily's hands in his and squeezed it tightly.

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	3. Never born, Not Loved

**Alternative Dimension: 1986**

Lily tried to find her husband. Their son Caspian was celebrating his birthday and James had been gone for over an hour now. Caspian' birthday had been a month ago, but after Dumbledore had been defeated and killed by Voldemort in the ministry, there hadn't been much room for celebration. But a five year old boy deserved a nice party and actually a birthday celebration was just what all the order members needed after an exhausting month.

The last day of July was also the day, where her husband had always in a fool mood. Lily had hoped that a party with Caspian would prevent that.

Caspian Potter wasn't Lily's and James' first son. Their first son, Harry, had died before he had even been born. They had been attacked by Death Eaters and the stress had induced a miscarriage. Lily had lost her first baby. It had been hard and even today Lily felt sad thinking about her baby that had never even taken a single breath. James, though3, took it harder. The Death Eaters had come that day to attack them to take revenge on James. Back then Lily had blamed James for the loss of their first child. She had screamed at him, hit him and screamed more at him. Today she had long forgiven him, but she would never forgive herself for blaming the man in first place. He had only been twenty years-old. Who knows what it did to the mind of a twenty-year-old man – a boy almost - to be blamed for death of his unborn son.

She finally found James in the family graveyard of the Potters. It was in a small forest and one wouldn't find the graves, if they didn't know about it.

"James." Lily said softly to not startle him.

The man was standing over an empty plot of grass. Only Lily and he knew, that they had buried their Harry in that spot. They had agreed to not put up a gravestone. Just writing his name was too painful.

"Come back to the house. Caspian is wondering, where you are." Lily explained gently to him. He took his hand into hers.

"It's wrong. We shouldn't have celebrated today. It is _his_ birthday." James complained, squeezing Lily's hand tightly. His gaze didn't move from the empty plot.

"We can't know that for certain. It was only an estimated birthdate." Lily argued.

"Yes," James hissed with a poisonous tone, "because he died, before he could even live."

"I'm sad, too. But James, miscarriages happen all the time. It's more common than you think. It's part of life. We have to live on. Caspian needs you today." Lily tried to comfort James, but it didn't work. He let go of her hand and faced her. His face was plastered with despair.

"It happens all the time?" He shouted at his wife. "Lily, we had just decided on a name. The doctor had confirmed that everything looked great. Then Death Eater come and attack us. Because of me. How can that be common?"

Lily's gaze tuned to the ground. "I know. I know. You know how much it hurts me. I was his mother. I carried him under my heart for six months. But it is not you fault. If you want to blame someone blame the Death Eaters. Blame Voldemort. But please don't blame yourself. We need you. Caspian and Phemie need you."

James sighed heavily.

"I will join the party. Just give me ten more minutes."

* * *

 **Cannon Dimension: 1986**

Little Harry was sitting on a chair in the hall way, where his uncle has commanded him to sit. He glared at his knees. He didn't dare to move, much less look at his uncle.

"I swear, dad. He bit me. He turned into a dog! And then he bit me." Dudley said. His voice was squeaky, and his cheeks were wet from tears. He showed his wounded hand to his father, but the man kept ignoring him. Vernon was just standing in the room overwhelmed by the situation. His face was red, and Harry knew that the man would soon take out his anger on him. "Dad, he was a dog. Like in a cartoon or something!"

Harry knew that what Dudley said sounded crazy. But it was the truth nonetheless. Like always when Dudley was bored, he had played his second favourite game 'beating up Harry'. His favourite game was 'Harry hunting', but he played that only when his friends were with him. Dudley himself had never been fast enough to actually catch Harry. As both boys got older the games seemed to become more viscous. Dudley was growing bigger and heavier, while Harry had barely grown an inch and his trousers have gotten even looser around his waist. This afternoon his cousin had sat on him and Harry had feared for his life. He hadn't been able to breath and his stupid cousin wouldn't listen to Harry's pleading. Harry had been desperate and somehow, he had suddenly turned into a dog. Startled Dudley had jumped away from Harry, but not fast enough. Harry had bitten Dudley's hand. It wasn't a deep wound. It barley bled. The dog Harry had turned into had been quite small, more like a puppy really. Still, biting Dudley had felt oddly satisfying, even if there wasn't much damage done.

Harry could he a car park outside. Petunia had returned home. Vernon had called her a minute ago and had explained that she immediately had to come home, because of 'the freak'.

"What happened?" Petunia's shrilling voice sounded through the hallway.

"It's the boy. He did something freakish again." Vernon explained.

"He bit me!" Dudley explained further.

Petunia glared at Dudley. "What do you mean, Diddy?" She ran over to him and caressed her son's hair. "Show mummy what the freak did."

Dudley showed his hand to Petunia. There were two little red dots where Harry's dog teeth have broken the skin. "He turned into a dog, Mummy. Believe me, I'm not lying."

Petunia visibly paled. She looked over to Harry. She was believing Dudley? Harry had been certain that Dudley's claim seemed so crazy, that this time Petunia wouldn't believe her son.

"You boy. You will sleep in the garden for the rest of the week. I will not allow such a freakish behaviour in this house! Vernon throw him out."

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	4. Animagus Puppy

Enjoy reading!

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 **Canon dimension/ Alternative dimension: August, 1992  
**

Harry was lying in a street of London. Everything seemed to hurt, and his breathing was laboured.

"That's it. That's the end." Harry thought bitterly. He was freezing and with a last effort he turned into his dog form. His fur was warmer than the wet rags that he was wearing. Twelve-year-old Harry had been living on the streets the better half of his life. It had all started when he had turned into a dog for the first time. His relatives had been furious, and he had not only been forced to sleep in the garden shed but they had also stopped feeding him anything. Harry had started to wander around the neighbourhood rummaging in garbage for scraps of food. Quickly he had found out that people would care for a small, skinny dog rather than for a child which would just be shooed away. Children would convince their parents to take the puppy home and then after the family went to sleep, Harry would raid the fridge. At first Harry would still return to the Dursleys. But once Harry realized that he would receive nothing but a beating at the Privet Drive Number 4 he had left the house for good. This winter Harry had taken a train to London. At first the big city had been exciting, but now he knew that coming here had been the worst decision of his life. A group of teenagers had ambushed him in the middle of the night, because apparently, he had been pick-pocketing in their part of the town. It had all been so fast. Before Harry knew what was happening he was lying on the floor with a knife in his back. He knew that his "freakishness", that's what he called his strange powers, tried to heal him but didn't succeed. It was dawn now and the streets were starting to get busier.

At this moment Harry wished nothing more than to be a normal boy. He had seen so many different families over the years and they all had loved their children. Not all parents were like Vernon and Petunia and spoiled their children endlessly. But still all the families Harry had observed hidden as a dog were so happy. The parents always took care of the children. They ate together at the table and all the children had rooms not cupboards. Once Harry even met a family which had foster children. Even though they were not the real parents of the children they were super nice to them. Why was he the only one without anybody to take care of him? Harry was blaming his freakishness. He could turn into an animal and he could move objects without touching them. Sometimes he would also just disappear from one place and suddenly be in another. It was freakish and a part of him didn't blame the Dursleys on calling him a freak.

 _Please, I just want a family._ Harry wished. He could do a lot with his power. But he couldn't make himself a family.

 _A family please._ _A mother and a father. And siblings._

Harry felt suddenly his power rush through him. He knew this feeling. His powers tried to transport him somewhere. To a family maybe? Vanishing and appearing somewhere else was never very comfortable. It felt a bit like car sickness and his head was starting to pound. Afterwards he would be very exhausted.

Harry knew that he had disappeared for a second, but to his disappointment he appeared in the same street again. He had wished for a family, but even his freakishness couldn't grant him this wish. Harry was just about close his eyes, when he got startled by a voice.

"Dad, look a puppy!" A boy, maybe Harry's age, was dragging his father towards Harry. Usually, Harry would jump at the opportunity and try to be as cute as possible so that the family would eventually take him home. It's been a while since Harry's last meal and Harry would have really looked forward to raiding a family's fridge if he would just have any strength left. London's families were much less kind to stray dogs than they had been in Little Whining and Harry had no other choice than stealing food and money, if he wanted to eat something.

The man kneeled down to Harry. He petted his head.

"Dad, he is hurt. Look." A little girl said, which in his daze Harry noticed just now. She was maybe six years old. Like her brother she had bright red hair. But her eyes were striking green, while boy's eyes were brown.

"Yes, he is." The man confirmed.

"We have to do something" The boy exclaimed. Harry heart started to pump faster. Maybe that wasn't his end. Maybe this family would safe him.

"I don't know." The father explained. "He is very small and badly hurt. I'm not sure, if we can do something kids."

The little girl started crying. "But daddy please. He is so cute."

"Somebody had hurt him. Why would anybody stab a puppy?" The boy's voice was dark. Harry could feel that the man was touching the knife now and examining the wound.

"I'm scared daddy." The girl explained still sniffing.

"There's nothing to be scared about Phemie." The man said and took out a wooden stick out of his jacket. "Look."

The man tipped the wooden stick against the knife and suddenly the knife vanished. Maybe Harry was hallucinating, but Harry could swear that the man had just done something freakish like him.

Then the men murmured something while moving the wooden stick.

Harry skin around the wound started prickling and after a few seconds his wound seemed to be closing.

"Can we take him home?" The girl asked.

The man seemed to consider it. "Alright kids. We will take care of him until he is healthy again. But I can't promise that we will keep him. Caspian is leaving to Hogwarts soon and Lily and I are just too busy to take care of a dog."

"I can take care of him!" The little girl protested but the man only chuckled.

"Phemie when you are a bit older I'm sure that you could. But you are only six so you can't take care of him. But for now he is going with us. We will go another time to Diagon Alley to get your things Caspian. There still some time until the school year starts."

"That's alright. Let's just take the puppy home." The boy agreed, scratching Harry behind the ears. The man picked up Harry. And before Harry knew what was happening his stomach felt queasy and they disappeared into thin air.

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James Potter sighed as they apparated into their house in Gordic's hollow. This had not been how he imagined his day to go. He had taken a day off from his work as an auror and from the order to buy his son's school supplies. Caspian was starting his first year in Hogwarts soon and James had really looked forward to buying his son everything he needed. It was not only a magical moment for the children when they finally got to go to Hogwarts. He had looked forward to taking a break from the war against Voldemort and all the sorrow that came with it. James looked at the small dog in his arm. The animal lost consciousness as soon as he had apparated. It would have died there in the street if they had arrived just a bit later. Lily was probably going to scold him for bringing the dog home, but she would also understand that it wouldn't be a good example for Caspian and Phemie to leave a living being to die in a dirty alley.

"Already back?" Sirius asked. The man lying on the living room couch lazily playing with the snitch from their Hogwarts time.

"Don't you have to be at work Padfoot?" James questioned.

"I'm doing paperwork." Sirius answered.

"Yes, mate. I can see that. Me and the kids found a hurt dog in an alley. I couldn't take it to Diagon Alley with me. Caspian and I will have to go there another time again."

"A dog? Lily is going to kill you. She doesn't even let me transform in my Animagus in the house."

"That's because you stink. Besides this puppy is kind of cuter than you." James explained.

"Should we get him something to eat, dad?" Caspian asked.

"Can I take him to my room? I want to play with it." Phemie said cheerfully. "Also, we have to name it. How about Daisy?"

"Daisy is a girl's name. Dad, is it a girl?" Caspian wanted to know.

"It's male puppy." James explained. "And now it needs rest. I know you are very excited, but first I need to take a better look on its wounds. You shouldn't be here for that. Caspian, why don't you take your sister out for a ride in the garden?"

Caspian's eyes sparkled at that suggestions. It was so easy to take anything from his son's mind. One just had to mention Quidditch. "Can I take your new broom dad? Please!"

James chuckled. "Alright. But don't fly too fast. Take care of your sister."

Caspian face lit up. He picked up his little sister and almost ran with her to the garden before the little girl could even start to protest.

Sirius stood up from the couch and stretched as the children ran out of the room.

"So, what's the damage? What happened to the puppy." Sirius asked.

"Apparently it got stabbed." James answered and put the small dog on the couch, where Sirius had been lying a moment ago.

"Who the hell stabs a little dog." Sirius wondered. He carefully scratched the small animal behind it ears. The dog opened its eyes tiredly and looked at Sirius.

Suddenly Sirius frowned. "Prongs, that's not a dog. That's wolf's puppy."

James raised an eyebrow. "A wolf? In the middle of London?" James asked doubtfully. "How can you tell the difference? I think it's just a husky or something."

"I can tell the difference James. I'm not called Padfoot for nothing."

Sirius then turned into his Animagus form. The large shaggy dog was maybe three times as big as the small puppy James and the children have brought home. Only now compared to the big dog Sirius turned into James noticed how small and underfed the puppy really was.

The puppy got startled, when Sirius turned into his Animagus. It jumped off the couch and then fell over its own feet. Before it could get up and run away Sirius caught it with one paw– a very human gesture- and started sniffing the wolf baby -a very dog like gesture, which always irritated James. The big, black dog started growling. Without letting the puppy go he turned back again. The tall man closed his left hand around the puppy's throat. With his right hand he pointed his wand against the wolf's skull.

"James, that's neither a dog nor a real wolf. He smells wrong. It's an Animagus" Sirius explained trying to keep his voice calm.

"What? But it's a puppy, Animagus are always adult animals."

"Well, I know. But this wolf is definitely an Animagus."

What would an Animagus do in the middle of Muggle London? James and the children haven't directly flooed to Diagon Alley but to Muggle London to buy Lily some Muggle chocolate which she preferred to any chocolate the wizarding world had to offer.

"Try the Homorphus charm to turn him." James suggested. It was the standard charm, which they often used in their work as aurors to find criminals who like to hide between their often unregistered Animagus' forms.

Sirius only nodded once and said the charm with force. Blue light flew from Sirius wand. But instead of hitting the Animagus, the little animal produced a powerful shield and the spell never got to hit him. The shield expanded and pushed Sirius. The man flew against the wall and he hissed in pain as his head bounced against the stone wall.

"Bloody hell Sirius." James cursed, "It is an Animagus. And he just used wandless magic."

James took his wand out and got into a fighting position. Quickly Sirius got back to his feet too.

Both men shouted the Homorphus charm in unison. Again, the Animagus produced a shield.

"Can you read its mind James?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"No, apparently he is trained in occlumency. You stay here, I will floo the ministry and check if there is a registered wolfs puppy or something that could resemble it."

Sirius nodded. "Hurry up, mate. If he can do wandless magic that powerful as an Animagus I don't know if I want to fight that wizard when he turns back."

* * *

Harry was confused and scared. That man had just turned into a dog and back. Was he like him? Was he a freak too? He felt a lot of freakish powers in the room and it wasn't all his. He had no idea what those wooden stick was, but the men held it like weapons and Harry already knew that blue light could come out of them. It looked like magic to Harry.

The man with the glasses, James, left the room and returned after only what could have been minutes.

"He is not registered." He said the other man who was still pointing his stick at Harry. Were they talking about Harry? Registered where?

"So, he might be running from the law."

"Or he is a Death Eater who tried to infiltrate the order. We shouldn't contact the ministry just yet. This could be order business. We should call for an emergency order meeting and see what we are going to do with it." James explained to the curly haired man.

"James, we have our hands full at the order. We already had four meeting this week. We are having too many of them. Not everything is an emergency. Let's just wait until he turns and then decide if this is auror or order business."

James seemed to think about it for a second. "Alright, but not here. I'm not having an unknown wizard in this house while my kids are playing Quidditch in the garden. We are taking him to your house. I'm going to tell the children what happened and then we are leaving."

"Fine, my place." Sirius approached Harry. He ignored his growling and grabbed him by the neck before Harry could manage to bite him. Harry tried to free himself, but he found that the grip was so tight that he could barely move at all.

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	5. Little Death Eater

**Alternative dimension: August 1992**

Harry had been locked into the room for hours now. The brown-haired man was sitting in a chair close to Harry. They seemed to wait for Harry to turn back into a boy. Harry didn't know how they had recognized his true form, but he suspected that they were people similar to him. If they hadn't acted so hostile, he would have gladly turned back and asked them tonnes of questions. But they acted if Harry was dangerous. A criminal even. There was a bottle of water and sandwich in a jar placed on the floor. Both was inaccessible for Harry in his animal form. He knew that the men were going to wait until Harry would give up and turn back just to eat and drink something. They had also explained that he couldn't open the jar or bottle with magic. Harry wasn't sure if that had been supposed to be a joke or something, since an adult should know that magic didn't exist. Harry hadn't eaten anything in days and the sandwich looked quiet tempting. He was thirsty too, but the hunger had become almost unbearable.

At the beginning James had been very alert. He had even talked to Harry, although Harry really didn't get anything what the man had been talking about. He had mention that he was an auror, but Harry had no idea what that meant. But by now -maybe three hours later- the man was fighting against falling asleep. At first, he had only closed his eyes sometimes for a few seconds. But now the man seemed to be sleeping his breathing slow and calm. After a while Harry mustered all his courage and transformed back to the child he was. He quietly opened the bottle and drank half of it without the man waking up. Already feeling better with something in his stomach Harry took the jar with the sandwich inside. He felt his mouth watering. His hands were a bit shaky. Harry knew that was because he hadn't eaten in a long time. The boy tried to open the jar. With all his strength he tried to turn the lid of the jar but it wouldn't move. Tears were forming in the child's eye. The man would surely wake up any moment, celebrate his victory and probably take the sandwich from Harry. Desperate as Harry was he quickly smashed the jar against the floor. It broke into several pieces. Harry took the sandwich and without really chewing at all he swallowed it in three bites.

James woke up when he heard glass break. He silently cursed himself for falling asleep while guarding a potentially dangerous wizard. To James's surprise the Animagus didn't turn into an adult wizard but rather into a child.

He looked Caspian's age, maybe even younger. As a father he started to panic when he saw what the child was doing. The kid was sitting in the middle of broken glass. The boy took the sandwich from the floor and without even checking it for glass shards chocked it down. James jumped up fearing that the child ate some broken glass. Startled the boy looked at James with huge eyes. Before James knew what was happening the glass shards elevated and flew with an incredible speed towards James. James didn't even had time to build up a shield so the only thing that he could do was to cover his face with his arms.

Seconds later Sirius came bursting in his wand ready.

"James what's going on."

"The kid attacked me." James said while checking a very nasty cut on his forearm.

"Kid?" Sirius asked and looked towards the wolf Animagus. "He looks like he is ten - not even old enough for Hogwarts. How the hell can he be an Animagus?"

"Or use wandless magic for that matter." James added. "No way that this is a real child. He might have taken some de-aging potion."

"Maybe. But we should check if there some missing wizard children?" Sirius asked. But his voice was uncertain.

"Alright, I will do that. But first we have to make sure that he will not attack us."

"And what if we find nothing about a missing child?"

"If nothing comes up, I will call the order. He could be a Death Eater trying to play us." James deducted.

* * *

An hour later some of the order members have gathered in the kitchen of Grimmauld place. Molly, Arthur, Remus were already there. James and Sirius had told the boy to sit on a chair. As a security measure they put an arci-bracelet around his wrist. It was made from tin engraved with ancient runes. It could only be opened and removed by somebody else. Aurors used it to prevent prisoners to use any magic. The arci-bracelet wasn't a recent invention but not so long ago it had been unbelievingly expensive. Thanks to the studies of some wizards in the ministry it could be mass produced and by now it was the most used tool by aurors.

James was pretty convinced that the child could not be a real child but rather a Death Eater or Outlaw in disguise. James tried to find some data about the child but as he tried to identify the boy with a spell nothing came up. Usually an identification spell would tell James at least a name and a birthdate, but for this boy nothing came up. It was like he didn't exist. In all his carrier as an auror that had never occurred before and he had never heard of such a thing as well. The identifying spell always worked without exceptions. Even if somebody was a muggle or came from a foreign country, an identification spell would always give him some data. But with this boy – nothing. James was sure that it had to be some very powerful and dark magic that could basically erase once identity.

Still as a father it was hard to look at the boy and not feel pity. James had to muster all his self-composure to prevent his father instincts to kick in. The boy was a picture of misery. His was pale except for his right cheek which was purple and swollen. The boy had messy brown hair which seemed to grow in all directions. James himself always had a fight with his hair in the morning, but it was obvious that this boy hadn't brushed or washed his hair in ages. The clothes he was wearing were literary rags. They seemed filthy and had several holes in them.

"What's going on, Potter?" Moody asked right after flooing into the room.

"James found a little boy which is apparently an Animagus and he can do wandless magic." Arthur explained.

Moody snorted and walked over to the kid. Obviously scared of the man the kid pressed itself as much into the chair as he could.

"James, really." Molly pleaded. "It's a child in need. I think it is ridiculous to assume that it is a Death Eater in disguise." She walked towards the child as well. But as she wanted to caress the boy's hair Moody caught her hand in mid-air.

"I don't think theory is too farfetched. I can see some dark magic surrounding him. And I mean magic of its darkest kind which I know only one wizard of our age can accomplish." The mood in the kitchen tensed. Molly took a step away from the child.

"Boy, what is your name? Who are you and what do you want?" Moody started his interrogation roughly.

The boy looked up paling even more, if that was possible. James and Sirius hadn't tried talking to him yet as their priority had been to contact the order.

"Harry, Sir." The boy answered his voice raspy and nervous.

"You've got a last name, Harry?" Moody continued.

"Smith, Sir."

"Smith? And you are expecting me to believe that?"

The boy didn't answer. James was glad that Lily wasn't here but had stayed with the children at home. It was hard to watch the scene between the little boy and the auror. The boy looked so vulnerable as the one-eyed auror hovered over him.

"Well, it's my name. Believe it or not." The boy retorted almost cheeky. James guessed that in any other situation the boy -or possibly grown man- could be a handful.

"What do you want here, kiddo? Tell us what your intentions are, and we might not hand you over to the dementors."

Harry didn't answer. Instead he fumbled with the tin amulet around his wrist which was obviously irritating him a lot.

"Honey, how old are you?" Molly asked now. She dared to come a few steps closer to the boy again.

"Twelve. I think." Harry answered still pulling on the bracelet.

"You think?" Moody's voice was doubtful.

"I'm twelve." Harry answered now more certain.

"What is your birthdate?"

"July 1980."

"What have you being doing this morning in London."

"Nothing really." The boy said.

"Who stabbed you?" James now continued the questioning.

"Nobody – just – some guys."

* * *

Harry was confused and tired. All those people kept asking him question and some of the questions he didn't even understand. They asked him if he was a muggle-born. Harry didn't really know what that was, but he assumed that he wasn't. He just shaken his head. Then they asked him about Death Eaters, whatever that was and a guy, he apparently had to know who. Some questions made more sense for Harry. But he knew better than to tell them his real name or where he came from. He wouldn't risk being sent back to the Dursleys. Luckily, the people seemed to get tired too and the breaks between the questions seemed to become longer.

"Veritaserum." The man with the weird glass eye said.

But James shook his head. "He is too small. We might kill him accidentally with an overdose. There are no charts about how to dose children under fourteen."

The older man seemed unhappy about it but didn't protest any further. "We should keep him a prisoner until we learn more about him."

Harry's heart rate got quicker as he heard the word prisoner. Who were those people and why were they so interested in him? Yes, he was a freak, but obviously they were too.

"Please, let me go." Harry suddenly pleaded. "I wish I could answer more of your questions, but I really can't."

"Do you think we are stupid, boy? Your plan to infiltrate the Potters as a pet, failed and now you think we are just going to let you go? Sirius why don't we imprison him in your basement until he is willing to talk more or turns into his true form." The man suggested.

"No, you are not going to imprison a child." The red-heard woman protested. "As long as we can't prove that he is indeed a criminal we will treat him as a child."

"Are you out of your mind, woman?" The one-eyed man said exasperated.

"Molly is right, Moody. What if somehow, he is an extremely talented child, who for some reason can't be identified. I'm not going to abuse a little boy." James reasoned.

"So, what do you suggest?"

"Well, I suppose he could stay with us since he can't do any magic with the bracelet anyway. We will wait until we find out more." James answered but he didn't seem to like his idea though.

"No way, mate. He just attacked you with glass shards. I'm not letting you risk the life of my godson and goddaughter. " Sirius objected. "The boy can stay here. I will not lock him up in the basement and treat him correctly."

Molly nodded hesitantly. "I think that might be the best solution."

"I still believe that the Veritas Serum would help but alright. If that idiot dog wants to risk his life, who am I to object." Moody scoffed and looked at Sirius.

"Thanks, mate." James said and put a hand on the shoulder of his friend.

* * *

How the bloody hell did he end up in this situation? Here he was, imprisoned with other freakish people. Yes, he survived the night and he will not bleed to death, but he felt far from save. Even if those people were like him, they treated him like he was dangerous and disgusting.

Harry still felt weak from the attack the night before. Even though the stab wound was closed it was still hurting. He was also sure that one of his ribs was cracked. But what worried Harry the most was the bracelet around his wrist. They had put a silverish ring around his wrist and Harry knew that it prevented him using his powers. He had tried using his powers but the only thing that he had accomplished was, that the bracelet got hot. It had even burned his skin, but Harry had enough willpower to compose himself and not show that he got hurt. Those other freaks would for sure know that he had tried something if they saw his burned wrist.

Now he was alone with this guy called Sirius. The man seemed as much at loss what to do as Harry. Harry wished that the red-haired woman would have stayed. She seemed to be a good person who wouldn't harm him. This man on the other hand Harry was not so sure. Harry could feel his heart pumping faster as he realized that for the first time in a long time he was completely defenceless and at the mercy of a grown man. Harry had gotten used to using his power. Except for the few times when somebody caught him off guard nobody could really hurt him anymore.

Should he try to run? But the man would certainly catch him before he could even find out were the entrance was. Harry wished that he could just disappear into thin air. As he wished for it the bracelet started burning again. Harry gritted his teeth and tried to calm down. As he slowed his heart beat down, the bracelet stop burning, although it was still quiet warm.

"So, let's set up some rules, kid." The man said. Harry could hear his heart beat again. He took a step back and tried to find something what he could use as a weapon, but there was nothing in the room. Again, the bracelet burned into his skin as he started to panic. Harry knew that every time he got scared his powers would do something. Yes, he could control some things; he had spent years trying to figure out how to do stuff by will. Most of the time though things would just happen around Harry without him actively trying to make them happen.

"I will show you your bedroom. You will not leave that room. Even if you would try the door will be locked. Don't worry it has its own bathroom and I will bring you your food up." Sirius said his eyes studying Harry closely. "You will not disturb me. And if you try something, I will think about some of the options that Moody suggested."

"Come on now." Sirius ordered. He walked towards Harry, but the twelve-year old jumped back and stumbled until he felt the wall behind him.

Sirius sighed unnerved. "Kid, I'm not going to hurt you. For now. Molly would probably turn me into a frog and feed me to their family owl, if I hurt you without a reason."

The mention of Molly, the kind-hearted red-head, was reassuring. But what did _"for now"_ mean?

Patience didn't seem to be one of the man's virtue. Annoyed he treated, "If you don't follow me now, I will drag you up with me and I will not be gentle. I'm sure Molly wouldn't notice a few bruises." Harry gulped. The man was already contradicting his statement that he wouldn't hurt him from a second ago. Harry pressed himself further into the wall.

Finally losing the rest of his patience Sirius quickly moved towards to Harry. He grabbed for the boy's wrist but hissed as he got burned by the bracelet. "Bloody hell." Sirius cursed. Promptly he pushed his arm against Harry's throat. Harrys head hit the wall hard. He was pressed against the wall, his feet barely reaching the floor. Sirius pointed the stick which apparently could do magic against the boy's cheek. The man's face was close to Harry's and Harry could feel the man's breath against his forehead.

"What did you try boy? The bracelet is only getting warm, when somebody is trying use their magic. Your bracelet is freaking burning. What are you trying?"

Harry could feel his cheeks getting wet. He could barely breath and he didn't know that his heart could even beat this quickly. The bracelet was burning merciless. "I don't know." Harry rasped. "I can't control it."

Obviously, Sirius wasn't satisfied with Harry's answer. "I can't wait for you to turn back into the Death Eater you are and send you of to Azkaban." With swift, experienced movements Sirius twisted Harrys arm around his back and pushed it upwards. "You could have just followed me. That would have been much more pleasant. For you. I kind of enjoy this." Harry tried to struggle, but that only resulted in Sirius almost dislocating his shoulder. They went out of the kitchen and moved upstairs. Sirius let go of Harry once they entered the bedroom.

"Here we are. Don't try anything. You can't get out anyway." Sirius explained a second time. Harry had already moved to the other side of the room as far away from Sirius as he could. "Good night." Sirius said finally and left the room smashing the door behind him with a load noise.


	6. Mr Voldi Mord

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* * *

Sirius sat down at his desk. Hiding a Death Eater as child was a cruel thing to do. Usually beating up a Death Eater gave Sirius a satisfying feeling. After all, a lot of his friends had died at the hands of Voldemort. Still his gut twisted in guilt as he had hurt the boy. And then the kid even had audacity to cry.

Sirius took the mirror which would show what the boy was doing in his room. The kid was sitting in one corner, the farthest away from the door. He was hugging his legs, constantly looking at the door, his eyes red and puffy, his cheeks wet with tears. This was a Death Eater who knew how to act. He was probably aware of being observed. Annoyed by the day, Sirius shoved the mirror into the top drawer of his desk and moved to his own bedroom. But somewhere in his back of his head, Sirius feared that they had all just made a terrible mistake. What if it was just a kid?

* * *

Harry didn't know what time it was, but a few hours must have passed. His room was dark, and Harry couldn't find a switch to turn the light on. It was quiet, and Harry wondered if the man had gone to sleep. The light in the hall way was at least off, too. Harry couldn't see any light coming from the crack under the door. He was hungry and tired, but he didn't dare to lie down on the big king-sized bed as tempting as it was. This night might have been the only chance he got to escape before the man would really hurt him. But the door was locked, and Harry suspected that it was not a mechanical lock that kept the door shut. Desperately he tried to pull the ring of his wrist. Again it was getting hot. Harry already had several burn blisters. And then an idea struck Harry. The bracelet would get hot. What if he could melt it? Metal would also melt at some point, right? This was one of those moments when Harry regretted never going to school. This seemed to be an information that he might have learned there. Harry took one of the pillows and ripped of the pillow case. He toor it into two pieces and made one wet. He bandaged it around his blistered wrist. Luckily the bracelet was quite loose. Now he had a protecting layer between the bracelet and the skin. Then he took other piece of cloth and bit on it. In case that the protecting layer wasn't enough, he wouldn't scream. Bracing himself Harry tried to gather as much of his power as he could. It didn't really matter what he tried to do with his magic, the bracelet always burned up. Harry felt the bracelet getting hot. The wet cloth under it sizzled as the water evaporated. A few seconds later, the cloth caught fire. Maybe the cloth had been a stupid idea as he almost passed out as more of his skin got burned. Harry ran into the bathroom and threw the burning piece of cloth into the bathtub. Just as Harry started to panic that the tumult had Sirius woken up, the bracelet fell of Harry's wrist. The bracelet had melted on two different points. Harry gathered all the power he had and ran towards the door.

* * *

Sirius woke up alert. Having a potential Death Eater sleeping in his brother's former bedroom didn't let him fall asleep deeply. He jumped out of his bed and ran into the hall way. The little boy wasn't any longer in his bedroom. Instead the dishevelled kid tried to open the main entrance. The kid might have managed to break the barriers of his room, but the wards of his house were second only to those of Hogwarts and Azkaban. Sirius ran the stairs down his wand drawn.

"Impedimenta", Sirius shouted as he got closer to Harry. Instinctively the boy had jumped away in an unnatural speed and was now turned towards Sirius. The spell had missed the kid.

Before Sirius could try to hit Harry with another spell, the boy quickly ran out of the room into the dining room. He jumped – or maybe even flew – over the table and turned the table magically creating a wall between the boy and Sirius who had come running after the kid. Somehow the boy had managed to get rid of the bracelet. A silver knife which had been displayed in a showcase at the wall came flying towards the kid. The boy fetched and held the table ware in Sirius direction.

"Don't move any closer." The boy warned.

"Expelliarmus." Sirius yelled. This time the auror succeeded and Sirius caught the knife with his wandless hand. Instead of a knife the child was now holding his fists up and in a fighting position that usually only Muggles or wizard children who didn't have wands yet assumed. On this scrawny underfed child, it almost looked ridiculous.

Just as Sirius wanted to attack the child, Sirius hesitated as he studied the child's body language. The child had a defensive position, not the one of an attacker. Suddenly Sirius got reminded of another boy, a curly haired boy who had to fend of a man named Orion Black. Sirius remembered his first years of Hogwarts and his parent's disappointment as he got sorted into Gryffindor. The teenage boy had tried his best to avoid Orion during his summer holidays, but sometimes he wasn't very successful in that. What if this boy really was a boy and not a Death Eater?

"I will not attack you, if you don't attack me." Sirius said to the boy. The kid didn't seem to relax.

"Look, child, you have to understand we are in the middle of a war. Everybody is quite nervous and jumpy. Just go back to your room. I will not harm you, if you don't try to attack anybody."

"What war?" The boy asked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. Was this boy serious? Even if he wasn't a Death Eater, he would know that the wizarding world was in war since before the boy was even born.

"Let me go." The boy pleaded as Sirius didn't answer. "I'm sorry for letting the other man thinking I'm a dog. I really hadn't tried to harm them." The boy got red. "I just hoped they would help. Maybe I would have stolen some food. But that's it. I swear."

Sirius sighed and put his wand down a bit hoping that the gesture would calm the kid. But the child was still holding his fists up. "If you don't let me go, I will fight you." The boy said warningly. -his body language betrayed him though. This child didn't want to fight. But today had just scared the shit out of him.

"Look, kid. I can't let you go. But I'm starting to suspect that you are not a Death Eater. How about we both calm down and go back to sleep now. I will not lock your door anymore, although I will not lift the wards from the house."

"What's a Death Eater." The child wanted to know suddenly.

"Are you kidding?" Sirius laughed bitterly. "You don't know what a Death Eater is?" Then his voice got darker again. "Or are you just pretending not to know?"

"No, I swear. I don't know." The boy's voice was desperate.

"Death Eater are the followers of You Know Who." Sirius explained briefly.

"No, I don't know who." The boy said.

Sirius sighed. Did the boy really force him to explain even that? "Voldemort. Or maybe you know him as the Dark Lord." The tall man spat.

Hesitantly the boy shook his head. "Look, I don't really have a good general knowledge. I don't know who this Mr. Voldi Mord is."

"Mr. Voldi Mord." Sirius couldn't suppress a chuckle. "If you are a Death Eater you really have some guts to call him that."

The child looked honestly confused.

"Look, kid, Voldemort is probably the most evil wizard who has ever been born. Every child knows that."

"So, you are leading a war against him?" Harry deducted. "And you think I'm one of his followers?"

Finally, the kid seemed to relax a bit after understanding what this was all about. 'Shit,' Sirius realized 'Had nobody from the order cared to explain anything to the child, just in case he was not an evil Death Eater?'

"Well, yes. The running theory is that you are a Death Eater."

"Can I ask you some more questions?" The kid looked tired and overwhelmed by everything.

"Shoot."

"Are you a wizard?" The boy wanted to know. Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously."

"Like in the Lord of the Rings?" _Lord of the Rings?_ It was about the only movie Sirius had seen. When Lily and James had started dating, Lily had first made James watch it. Later James had forced Sirius to watch it with him again afterwards. They had paid a Muggle bartender to play it in his pub since both boys had neither a television box nor electricity for that matter in their households.

"Yes, like in the Lord of the Rings. Although some of the things in the movie are not quite accurate."

"Am I a wizard?" Harry asked his voice uncertain.

This was getting ridiculous! "You can turn into a bloody wolf and you can move objects with a flicker of your hand. What do you think?"

"So, I am a wizard?"

"Yes!" Sirius shouted making the boy flinch.

"Does that mean that my parents have also been wizards?" The boy asked. _Have been?_ Was the boy a Muggle raised orphan? This boy just couldn't be a Death Eater. This kind of cover was just too mad.

"Most wizards have parents which are also wizards or witches. But some are Muggle-born."

"Muggle-born? Muggles are non-magical people?" Harry deducted.

"Exactly."

Harry swallowed hard taking in all the information he just got. With a resigning sigh the boy's body lost its tension. The boy moved to the closest armchair and dropped down on it apparently deciding that Sirius wasn't a treat anymore. The child pulled his knees up, clutching his own leg.

A few minutes Sirius tried decide on what to do next. Then he heard the kids stomach rumble.

"How about some food, kiddo?" Sirius asked, remembering that they hadn't had dinner. James and he had only fed the kid a sandwich and nothing else. Even if the kid was a de-aged Death Eater it was kind of cruel to deny him food. But if the child really was just a child, not giving him anything to eat was outright neglectful if not abusive.

Uneasily the child looked up at Sirius. He nodded timidly.

"My house-elf is with Molly's family, since I don't really need him. But I can make you some scrambled eggs." Sirius explained. Again, the kid looked confused, but he only nodded.

"How many eggs do you eat?" Sirius asked as made his way to the kitchen. The man tried to act relaxed, but actually he was still on edge half expecting the kid to hex him any second.

"One?" The kid said, although it sounded more like a question really.

"I will make it two then. Come on, sit down at the kitchen table."

* * *

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	7. Scrambled Eggs

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* * *

Sirius was almost done with the eggs, when Harry slowly shuffled into the room. He had fried six eggs in total, two for the boy and four for him. Harry hesitantly sat down on the table, his eyes getting bigger as Sirius put a plate with eggs and bread in front of him.

Sirius sat down too and started eating.

"Come on, eat." Sirius invited Harry as the boy kept staring at his food. Promptly the boy took the fork and dug in. Sirius, who himself had been raised with proper manners, had seen a lot of savages at the Gryffindor table – not that the man really cared. This boy though surpassed any of them. The boy practically inhaled the food. In a matter of seconds, the boy had finished the food. As the boy started to lick the plate clean, Sirius took the plate from the boy slightly disgusted and pushed his own plate towards the kid. Surprised and uncertain eyes met his.

"I guess you are hungrier than I am."

"No, I can't." Harry said apologetically.

"Oh yes, you can. I can always make more, if I get hungry later." Sirius explained.

The boy still looked at him unbelievingly. "Come on, eat." Sirius ordered.

"Thanks." The boy muttered as he continued to eat. He was still eating like a savage, but at least he had slowed down a bit.

His gut twisting with guilt Sirius studied the boy. He was thin, far too thin. Also, he was very small for a twelve-year old. Caspian who was younger was taller than him. And Caspian wasn't tall for his age either. His clothes were hanging loosely on him. They were quite miss-matched. While his black sweatshirt was big enough to probably fit Sirius, the boy's jeans were too short for him and they looked like they could belong to Phemie. They were several pink and red, glittering butterflies on them, not a choice most twelve-year old boys would make volunatrily. But the boy didn't seem to care about his clothes at all.

The kid's cheek bones were quite visible, almost poking out of his face. His hair was long and growing in all direction.

He looked like James, Sirius realized. Like an underfed, mini-James in rags. Caspian and Phemie both didn't really look a lot like James, they came a lot after their mother. Because of their red hair the kids sometimes even got confused with the Weasley kids. Watching this boy however was almost like looking back in time. Except maybe that some glasses were missing on the child's nose and that Mrs. Eupemia Potter had always dressed James in the finest clothes a wizard could find in London.

Sirius winced as his eyes fell on the boy's right arm. Harry's wrist where James and he had put the bracelet on was badly burned. There were several blistered and some part of the skin had a nasty black-white colour.

Sirius got up and pored the kid a glass of orange juice. If this was not a Death Eater, what the hell had happened to the child? There was obviously nobody taking care of him. And why was he not known to Hogwarts or the ministry?

After Harry had also finished the orange juice and the rest of the eggs he looked up at Sirius.

"So, eh, you need help with the dishes?" The boy offered pulling Sirius out of his thoughts. Sirius grinned tiredly and flickered his wand. The dishes flew away and started cleaning themselves. A moment ago, the child had treated to fight him and know he was offering to wash the dishes?

"How about you get a shower. Caspian has some clothes here which will probably fit you. And I will give you something against those burns."

* * *

Sirius carefully knocked on the child's door. He had found some of Caspian's pyjamas. He had left them at Sirius' place, because he didn't want to risk that Lily packs them into his Hogwarts trunk by mistake. They were light blue with red cats, bright green frogs and brooms on it. Sirius knew that Caspian still loved the soft material, but he was growing up. Soon he would probably be an annoying teenager.

After Sirius didn't get any answer from inside the room and he didn't hear the shower running or the boy moving, he carefully peaked in. Harry was sleeping on an armchair in the room, his head tilted to the side. Damn, this child was cute and adorable. Quietly Sirius walked over the child. The Animagus had some practice in bringing children too bed, first with Caspian, then with Phemie.

With a short movement with his wand he had removed the boy's filthy clothes except for his underwear and put the clean pyjamas on him. With another flicker of his wand he healed the child's burned arm and any other bruises he could find. Apparently apart from getting stabbed the kid also got beaten up violently. He then lifted the child. Sirius wasn't really surprised that the child was light as a feather. He put him into the big bed and covered him up. Carefully he stroked his hair. For the first time Sirius saw the bolt shaped scar on Harry's forehead. A curse scar as the trained auror recognized. Sadness washed over Sirius. And some part of him wished that this boy was indeed a Death Eater. Everything else was more than Sirius could take.

* * *

Harry woke up feeling better than he had in a long time. It took him a moment to realize where he was. He touched his soft pyjamas. There was a pattern with frogs, brooms and owls on it. Harry decided that they were the best pyjamas he had ever had. Then he realized that he hadn't put them on himself. Seconds later he remembered everything that had happened the day before and how he was imprisoned with a man who said that he was wizard. Suddenly every vase – there were surprisingly many- in the room exploded. His powers, no magic as he had learned yesterday, had gone rampage again. Harry jumped out of the bed bracing himself for what was going to happen next.

Sirius came running into the room his wand drawn. He looked around. He first looked at Harry and then at the broken vases. To Harry's bewilderment he seemed to relax rather than to get angry. Sirius lowered his wand.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice surprisingly calm.

"I don't know!" Harry cried. "I'm sorry. It's just things happen when I feel scared. I really didn't want to destroy your things."

Sirius chuckled and went over to one of the vases. He made the broken porcelain disappear. "They were my mum's." He explained. "And I don't really care. I could repair them easily, but to be honest I kind of have always hated them. So maybe I should thank you."

Was this man for real? Aunt Petunia had once denied him food for three days because he had broken a glass while making breakfast for Dudley. But then Harry remembered all those other families, he had spied on disguised as a family dog. Yes, adults got angry, when children broke things. But most of them forgave quickly. Was Sirius after all one of those adults? Uncertain Harry stepped a bit back. Even if he was, was Harry one of those kids that an adult could forgive? He shouldn't lower his guard. This man was holding him as a prisoner.

"How about breakfast, Harry?" Sirius asked after he made the rest of the mess disappear.

"I'm not really hungry." Harry admitted. Sirius smiled softly.

"I'm not asking you to eat six eggs again. But how about a toast with this stuff called Nutella? Caspian made me go to a Muggle supermarket to buy it. And I have to say that sometimes Muggles are geniuses."

"Really, I'm fine."

"How about you sit with me in the kitche,n while I eat breakfast." Sirius said.

A minute later Harry found himself sitting in the kitchen again. Ignoring all of Harry's complains of not being hungry Sirius put a toast with the chocolate cream in front of the boy.

"So, accidental magic, huh?" Sirius asked as he started eating his own toast.

"Accidental magic?"

"Yes, it tends to happen to children. You outgrow it at some point though. I think the last time it happened to me was, when my mother burned all my Gryffindor posters in our garden on my birthday. The shed in the garden exploded and I almost got kicked out of school. I was already in my fourth year, which was quite late for something like this to happen. Well, but I heard about this one guy in his auror training who turned his instructor into a fly. Investigations proofed that it was indeed accidental. So, no worries, you have all the time in the world to outgrow it. Disqualified him in his auror training though. Too much of a wild card."

"How do I do it? Outgrow it, I mean." Harry wanted to know. Slowly nibbling on his toast. It was incredibly sweet.

"Time and patience. And studying of course." Sirius explained.

"Studying magic?" Harry questioned further.

"Yes. You've never heard of Hogwarts?" Sirius asked his eyes curiously on Harry.

"Hogwarts?"

"The best school for witches and wizards in the whole world." Sirius clarified.

Slowly Harry shook his head. He had never gone to school. Not even a normal school, where people learned how to write and read. But for the first time Harry started to consider school. Learning magic sounded amazing.

"So, you got raised by Muggles?" Sirius asked hesitantly. Harry tensed. He exactly knew what kind of questions would follow.

"Yes, I don't think they were wizards." Harry said. This man was feeding him, maybe he deserved some answers.

"Were?" Sirius asked pouring Harry a cup of milk.

"Are. But I don't live with them anymore." Harry clarified.

"So, where do you live now?"

"Not with them." Harry said. But he regretted his answer as soon as he saw that the adult, that Harry kind of started to like, got annoyed.

Harry took a deep breath. He should explain himself.

"I kind of live on the streets." Harry admitted. Nervously he tried to read the man's face.

"What does "kind of mean"?" The man sought to know.

Harry gritted his teeth. "I mostly live on the street. Sometimes I hide as dog in a family and steal food."

The man's face was an unreadable mask.

"How long have you been doing that?" The adult asked further. Harry was getting nervous. He was fumbling with the crust of his toast.

"Since a few years."

"A few years? What two? Three years? More precise please." The man ordered. His voice was harsh. Why was he getting angry? Being a street kid was certainly better than being a Death Eater. Right?

"Five I guess." Harry answered feeling somehow guilty. Sirius face had turned to stone. He had dropped his own toast and was staring at Harry.

"Look, I really didn't steal that much. Just some food. A little bit of money but never much. I'm sorry." Harry pleaded. "One day, when I have a job, I will donate to charity more money than I have stolen. I promised myself that, when I first stole something."

The man didn't respond to that.

"Five years? You were what? Seven?" He inquired instead.

"Yes. Although I'm not quite certain. See, my relatives never really celebrated my birthday, so I'm not completely sure, if I'm twelve. Maybe I'm already thirteen. Or maybe eleven. But my cousin was seven, when I ran away, and I think I'm only a few weeks younger than him." Harry said hoping that the man would stop looking so angry.

"Why did you run away?" Sirius asked. His voice seemed calm, but Harry could feel that the man was tense.

Harry's eyes filled with tears. Why did he care what the man thought? Yesterday this man had been ready to beat him up and imprison him in his basement. Just because he had given Harry some scrambled eggs and soft pyjamas Harry already got attached? God, he was such an idiot.

"I don't know…" Harry rambled. "I had to sleep in the garden shed and my aunt forgot to give me food, I guess, and then I just tried to find something on my own. One day, I saw no reason to go back. They were not bad people, you know. But I guess they got scared, when I turned into a dog. I don't think they were wizards and turning into an animal is kind of freakish, if you think about it. They have a son and I bit him one day. I shouldn't have done that. Please, you have to believe me, I had no other choice."

The man leaned back in his chair tiredly rubbing his temples.

"If I wouldn't have ran away, I think my uncle would have killed me one day." Harry added. He was not exaggerating, Vernon had been very rough the weeks before Harry decided to leave.

Sirius folded his arms. Grey eyes glared at Harry.

"Did you just say they were not bad people?" Sirius asked.

"Yes?"

"Never say that again. Harry, your aunt and uncle are the worst kind of people. I'm very sorry, that you had to survive something like this." Sirius explained. It took a while for Harry to understand what the wizard had just said to him.

"You are not angry with me for stealing?" Harry whispered dumbfounded. Sirius chuckled bitterly.

"I'm angry with you because you clearly didn't steal enough. You are a skeleton." Sirius clarified. "Now, eat your breakfast. I will be right back. I need the loo."

* * *

Sirius didn't really need to go to the toilet, but he needed to splash some water on his face. Here he was, a grown man -an auror- fighting with tears because of some street kid. But everything the child had just said was so wrong. Sirius had had a tough childhood and so had the other Marauders except for the spoiled Potter heir. But the story the boy had just told surpassed anything Sirius or his friends had ever experienced by far.

He really wanted the boy to be a Death Eater in disguise. Suddenly Sirius deepest wish was that the story just now had been a huge lie. But his gut told Sirius otherwise. This kid had been through hell. Even worse he and James had also hurt the boy. Merlin, if James hadn't interfered he would have agreed with Moody about the Veritasserum. For certain it would have killed the child as underweight as he was. Sirius thought about the arci-bracelet. One of the first instructions aurors got was to not use it on children, because accidental magic could activate it and the children wouldn't be able to prevent the bracelet from getting hot. James and Sirius had not even considered that they might hurt the boy by putting it on him.

Forcing himself to act collected, he returned to the kitchen. The child looked at him with wide eyes. Those green, uncertain eyes reminded Sirius of Lily, when she was first sorted into Gryffindor.

"Harry, you can do whatever you want. Pick a book or play with Caspian's toys upstairs. I can't allow you to leave, but please don't feel like a prisoner." Sirius said as softly as he could. "We will sort everything out. I promise. I will make sure that nobody is going to hurt you. I promise. "

* * *

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	8. Invisibility Cloaks

**Please enjoy another chapter.**

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* * *

"There have been twenty confirmed attacks on wizarding households in the last twenty-four hours." Moody said. He was sitting on the dining table next to Lily in the house of the Potters. He had just flooed in. Lily looked up from some student's homework she was currently correcting.

"Excuse me, what?" Lily asked like she had just misheard.

James came back from the kitchen and put a cup of coffee in front of Moody and clumsily spilled half of the content on the table and his hand. James hissed as the hot coffee burned the skin on his hand.

"That can't be. The morning issue of the daily prophet would have not only mentioned it but made it the headline of the week. Probably of the coming four weeks." He argued.

Moody sighed and took a sip of the still scalding coffee.

"They are keeping it pretty much low profile. They want to avoid a mass panic. The ministry incarcerated every surviving witness. But someone will spill the beans soon." Moody informed the worried couple.

"What do you mean surviving witness?" Lily wanted to know. She had gotten pale, her work for Hogwarts was completely forgotten.

"There have been twenty confirmed deaths." Moody answered. He tried to sound unaffected, but there was a slight tremble in his voice.

"Anybody we know?" James questioned further. He sat down at the table to. He was holding his wand tightly like it was a lifeline.

"I can show you the list with the names of the victims. There are no order members among them." Moody said.

"Muggle-borns? He went after Muggle-borns again?" James gave Lily a worried glance. She was a Muggle-born too after all.

"No." Moody shook his head. "There have been a few Muggle-borns and Half-bloods. But mostly Pure-bloods. Apparently, he is after Invisibility Cloaks."

That surprised both Lily and James. "What? What does he need an Invisibility Cloak for? I mean they are expensive, but mass-produced." Lily argued.

Moody shrugged his shoulders. "That's what we are trying to find out. James, you have an Invisibility Cloak, too?"

James nodded hesitantly.

"The boy. He might be a Death Eater disguised to get your Invisibility Cloak." Moody surmised, his glass eye fixed on James, while his healthy eye was staring at Lily.

"Come on," Lily protested. "From what James had told me that seems ridiculous. The child was on the street bleeding to death. He is just an unlucky child.

"Can you proof that he is a boy?" Moody challenged the witch.

"Can you proof that he is not?" Lily countered. "What happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

"It's war. Naivety will cost us lives, Potter." Moody argued.

Lily grimaced. "Severus and I will start looking into the Hogwarts library today to find a way to proof if he is a child or and adult in disguise."

The older auror nodded in agreement.

"James, you should help Sirius watch the child. He could be dangerous. And I know that Black is probably about to play Quidditch with the child." Moody asked his fellow auror.

"He can't." Lily protested. "If I'm in Hogwarts, James has to stay home with the kids. Phemie and Caspian are still at home. I can take Phemie to Hogwarts, but Caspian can't. He has to take the Hogwarts express on Monday."

Moody started to laugh. "That's you concern? That your son doesn't miss the Hogwarts express experience? We are at war, may I remind you."

"I know we are at war. Better than most; my husband is risking his life on daily basis. I just want my children to have a normal childhood. I don't want them to turn into bitter man like you, because they never had a chance to be children." Lily snapped at the man. "James will stay here with Caspian. He will take him to Diagon Alley. And then he will bring him to the Hogwarts Express. End of story."

James sighed. His eyes were fixed on the table as he explained to his wife, "No, he is right, Lily. I can't leave Sirius alone. If something happened to him, we would never be able to forgive ourselves."

Lily pursed her lips. Her green eyes met James. There was uncertainty in both of their faces.

"Alright." Lily agreed now her voice soft again. "Bring Caspian to Molly. She still has to go to Diagon Alley too and she has to bring her children to the Hogwarts Express on Monday." She stopped for a second and looked at her husband. There were some words on her lips and she seemed to ponder, if she wanted to continue.

"And James, please promise me you will give Harry a benefit of a doubt." She finally said in a voice so gentle, that James heart started pumping faster.

* * *

"I don't get, why I have to go to the Burrow." Caspian protested. He was sitting on his bed his arms folded across his chest. Caspian had behaved until Lily and Phemie had left for Hogwarts. He didn't dare to throw tantrums in front of Lily, but he didn't mind acting like a three-year-old in front of James.

"I told you. It's about my work. Now pack your stuff for the school year!" James shouted at the boy. James had found his old trunk in the attic as they hadn't gotten a chance to buy Caspian a new one. He opened it and started throwing stuff from Caspian's table into the trunk.

The boy didn't even budge. "What should I even pack?" Caspian countered. "I don't even have the things I am supposed to bring to Hogwarts."

Aggressively James started rummaging through Caspian's cupboard. "Pack now, or I will pack for you. I promise you, you will regret that. I might confuse your clothes with Phemie's by accident."

"Ha, ha." Caspian answered humourlessly. "I need to go to Diagon Alley."

"I told you, Molly will take you." James explained him for a third time that day.

"But I want to go with you." Caspian objected.

"We don't all get what we want, Caspian." James asserted his son.

"Spare me your life lessons, dad. Just tell me already that you don't care." Caspian yelled at the man. That made James freeze. He stopped going through the cupboard and turned around to his son.

"That's not what this is about. Don't you dare to guilt me into something." James answered with anger.

"I'm not guilting you into anything. From now on, I don't care either. Now get out of my room, I will be ready in five." He shouted back at his father.

"Caspian…" James started, but Caspian stopped him. Tears were in the child's eyes.

"Out!" He shouted at his dad again and James left the room.

* * *

Reading or playing with toys hadn't really been an option for Harry. Harry didn't exactly know how to read. He could recognize some letters, that's what they learned in kindergarten. But to really form a sentence and read fluently was impossible for him. He has tried to play with the toys, but they were different than anything Harry had seen before. Magical toys apparently.

Instead of doing anything Harry just settled on sleeping. He sat down on the huge armchair and had closed his eyes. He didn't dare to sleep on the bed during the day, Petunia had always scolded him for naps.

Harry had just started to dream of flying motorcycles, when the boy heard a loud crash. Startled he jumped up. James was standing in the fireplace coughing and trying to catch his breath. "Blimey. Sirius really has to clean his fireplace for once." James muttered to himself. Only then he noticed the child in the room. Promptly the man assumed a fighting position. His wand was raised, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the twelve-year old. Harry too reacted fast. He knocked over the armchair and jumped behind it to cover.

"Where is Sirius?" James asked words spitting.

"Upstairs." Harry answered. His eyes were desperately trying to find a weapon. Luckily Sirius hadn't thought that it was necessary to put the bracelet back on him. James on the other hand seemed to have a different opinion. The man pulled out one bracelet which was a complete copy of the one Harry had worn before. Harry gulped. Although his burns were already healed the memory about the pain was rather fresh.

"You are not wearing the bracelet and you are not locked up in your room. That's the two security measures Sirius and I agreed on. What did you do to Sirius?"

"Nothing, he just…" Harry tried to explain, but the man yelled "Stupify" before Harry could finish. Harry built up a shield, not really knowing if it had happened accidental or by will. Then Harry levitated a book from the bookshelf behind him and hit the man with it. The man didn't show any pain, if Harry had hurt him at all.

"Expulso" James shouted. In panic Harry realised the man had just blasted to bookshelf next too him. Harry was distracted for a few seconds and that was enough for James to attack him again.

"Levicorpus" James yelled with force. Harry built up his shield but this time, he wasn't fast enough. His legs got lifted upwards and his head swung over the ground. It felt like he was hanging from an invisible rope, which tight his legs to the ceiling. Harry couldn't move. He felt his magic rush through his body trying to find a way to free him, but nothing happened. What Harry could do was to throw more books from the shelfs at the man levitating them. Another book hit the adult, knocking his glasses of his nose. But the next books James could easily fend off.

The next second Sirius burst in. He tensed as he saw Harry hanging upside down in the air and James fighting with the books flying magically from the bookshelf.

"Stop." Sirius shouted angrily. Instantly the attack on James ended, but Harry didn't drop the books down just yet. They were floating in the air, ready to fly at James again. James also didn't bother to let Harry down.

"Let him down." Sirius asked his friend stepping between James and Harry.

"Why should I?" James said. "He's not wearing the arci-bracelet anymore."

"I know. But he is not going to attack you." Sirius tried to calm his friend down.

"I will let him down, after you have put this on him." Harry saw James holding up the bracelet up, just like the one which had almost burned Harry's hand off. Suddenly though it exploded in James' hand in pretty much the same way Harry had seen the bookshelf explode a second ago. Harry smiled in victory. At least he was learning new tricks with the wizards.

"Harry, stop it. You are not making your situation better." Sirius yelled at Harry now, but he was still turned to James. Sirius also had his wand drawn. But to Harry's surprise he had pointed it towards James.

"James, listen. I believe that Harry is not a Death Eater. He's just an unlucky boy with a lot of uncontrolled magic."

"Really? Did he put you under the Imperio curse or something?"

"No. He doesn't even have a wand, James. Even Voldemort wouldn't be able to use an Unforgivable without a wand."

"Maybe he stole yours." James speculated.

"I think I would try to resist the Imperius Curse, if it meant protecting you." Sirius admitted. That seemed too soften James' face a bit.

"I know you would." James said. "So, what happened to the bracelet?"

"He burned through it." Sirius explained.

"So, what? You should have a few spare ones."

"He was going to burn his arm off."

"You suddenly decided that he wasn't a threat anymore? Let a potential Death Eater hang out in your living room without any precautions?" James questioned unbelievingly.

"Well yes. Except I don't believe that he is a Death Eater. Now let him down, James."

"What makes you think that he is not Death Eater?" James wanted to know.

"My gut."

"Your gut?" James scoffed. "That's not brave, but truly idiotic, my friend."

"What can I do? I'm a Gryffindor." Sirius smiled. "And so are you, mate. Let him down before I hex you."

"Now you are fighting me to protect him?" James said quite serious.

Sirius frowned. "I would rather die because of naivety, than to mistreat a child by mistake. I will never be another Orion Black."

That seemed to convince James. His shoulders slumped, and Harry crashed to the floor as did the books which had been flying in the room. Sirius was suddenly at Harry's side. The man's large hand was resting on the boy's back gently. "Are you alright, Harry?" Sirius asked his voice so much softer than when he had talked to James before. Harry nodded, a bit confused. Never ever, had an adult talked to him in such a voice. Harry didn't really know why, but his eyes filled with tears.

"Come on." Sirius helped Harry up. Harry's legs were a bit shaky and Sirius helped him back to the couch. "Why don't you sit here for a while. James and I have some things to discuss." It sounded like an offer, but Harry knew that it was actually more of an order. Harry didn't see a reason to protest. He just nodded.

* * *

 **How do you like the story so far? I wonder if the premises of this AU story are clear. If there something you don't get please comment on it, so that I can make it clearer for future readers.**


	9. Internat

**Hey guys,**

 **thanks for reading. Next update will be on Saturday!**

* * *

"Not a Death Eater, huh?" James questioned his friend as they entered the kitchen. Sirius sighed.

"I don't believe so, no. You didn't pick up a stray dog but rather a stray kid. He told me he was living on the street." Sirius explained.

"And you believe that?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulder. "He can disguise himself as a dog. It a good cover to avoid any Muggle authorities."

"And he is not known to Hogwarts, which has a list with every wizarding child currently in the country? And he is not registered at the ministry? He slipped through every control system just like that?" James doubted.

Sirius scratched his head. "I really don't understand it either, but so far he hasn't really been aggressive."

"He hit me with a book!" James protested.

"Yes, and you scared the shit out of him. You are twice his size and you were pointing a wand on him. Then you hexed him."

Still James didn't seem to be convinced at all. "There have been twenty attacks on wizarding families the past day. Voldemort is apparently after Invisibility Cloaks. I have one. Maybe he sent this Death Eater to get mine."

At that information Sirius face froze. "What to you mean twenty attacks? Where there any deaths?" He asked with fear in his voice.

"Yes, twenty wizards and witches died. I didn't know anybody, Moody showed me the list of victims. You can have a look, too."

James could hear Sirius gulp. His best friend needed a few moments to collect himself again.

"How should Voldemort even know about your Invisibility Cloak? There is only a handful people who know about it and all of them are in the order." Sirius argued.

"I don't know. But its not like we have been careful with it during our Hogwarts time. Maybe more people know about it than we think." James suggested, but he didn't seem to be sure himself.

"Moody has two cloaks, if not three. Every auror who was trained by him knows that. Why not infiltrate the boy with him?" Sirius countered.

"Good luck with that!" James scoffed. "But the boy is dangerous. He is doing wandless magic like its child's play. Who knows what would have happened if he had hit me anything beside a book."

"Look, Prongs. The kid had the whole night and day to attack me. He could have tried to kill me while I was sleeping. But nothing happened. You just startled him when you suddenly appeared in my fireplace. He was Muggle-raised." Sirius explained further.

"Really? The child that is using wandless magic like it is nothing? Muggle-raised street kid? That's the story he is going with?" James asked sarcastically.

Sirius slumped into the chair next to him. He briefly summarised the story Harry had told him the night before. How he had ran away from his relatives and then how he had lived five years on the streets. James sat down too. He leaned back, folded his arms and frowned.

"I hope nothing of that story is true." James commented after Sirius had finished his summary.

"And what if it is? Then we are just adding to a long chain of abuse." Sirius said.

"Sirius, if he really isn't a Death Eater, then his story is horrible. Living on his own since he was seven? Caspian could barely wipe his own arse, when he was that age."

"Or imagine Phemie wandering around in the streets of London on her own now." Sirius added. James paled visibly.

"What are we going to do?" James wondered.

"First we have to proof that he isn't a Death Eater. Then we can register him at the ministry and try to find him a family to take care of him." Sirius had already thought that far.

But James shook his head. "No way, we are letting this kid go. Even if he is not Death Eater, we are not letting him go. Sirius, he is an Animagus since he is seven. Only today I saw him levitate things, throw them around and explode things. By will. Without a wand. Without any magical education. Clearly, he will be a very powerful wizard in the future. We can't let Voldemort get a hold of him."

"So, if he is not a Death Eater already, you want the order to use him instead?" Sirius said disgusted by his friend's rational thinking.

"That's not what I'm saying. I just mean he will have a target over his head, if Voldemort decides that he wants him to join his ranks. Or if he decides that he will grow into a threat."

Sirius cringed. "I'm not so sure, if there aren't dark wizards already knowing about him. He has a cursed scar on his forehead."

James' eyes widened. "I thought his relatives were Muggles."

"Well, but maybe his parents weren't."

James winced. "So, you think, he got the cursed scar by his parents?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulder. He stood up and peaked into the other room, where the boy was still sitting on the couch. "Harry," he asked the boy. "Could you join us for a second?"

Shyly the boy entered the kitchen. He looked from Sirius to James. Then he decided that James was the biggest threat. He observed every of James movement closely.

"Could you tell us how you got that scar on your forehead?" A bit surprised Harry touched the scar on his forehead.

"In a car accident." The boy answered automatically. James narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"When was that?"

"I don't really know. I can't remember a lot. I was only one."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You can't remember a lot? Does that mean you remember something? From when you were only one?"

Timidly the boy nodded. "I remember a woman screaming. And green light."

"Who was the woman?" James questioned further. Harry looked at the floor.

"My mum. I think. My parents died in the car accident. My aunt had told me that."

"What's the name of your aunt and uncle?" Sirius wanted to know. But Harry just glared at him.

"Harry, we don't want to send you back to them. But James and I believe that they have told you a lie. You see that's a magical scar, you have there. We want to know, what happened."

Harry traced the scar with his finger. Then he slowly Harry nodded. "Their names are Petunia and Vernon Dursley. They have a son whose name is Dudley. They live in Little Whining."

James looked at Sirius with surprise. "Little Whining? That's were Peter and Lily's sister are living." Sirius nodded. He knew Lily's sister well. As teenagers Lily and Petunia had gotten into a lot of fights. But one day, just after Lily and James started dating, the Marauders had been invited for dinner at the house of the Evans. Well, Petunia and Peter kind of connected and they were happily married for almost twelve years now. Their son Dudley was the same age as Caspian. Petunia had made her peace with magic. James was even the godfather of little Dudley.

"I will check the information. I will talk to them and see what really happened. Find out about the boy's parents." James declared.

"You are going to talk to my aunt? About my parents?" Harry said. His voice was high and shaky.

James nodded. "That's the plan."

"Could you…could you…" Harry started but never finished his sentence.

"Could I what?" James asked impatiently.

"Nothing."

"Could he what Harry?" Sirius repeated James' question, but much calmer than James. He put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. Sirius noticed that the gesture made the boy flinch slightly.

"It's stupid." Harry answered.

James stood up and groaned. "I don't have time for this."

Sirius glared at James angrily. "Yes, you do. Last week I spend three hours looking for Phemie's Teddy, which Caspian had hidden. You have a few minutes to listen to Harry."

James' lips formed an ironic grin. "Yesterday he was a Death Eater. And now he is what? Your son?"

"No, but he is child living under my roof. Treat him like one." Sirius demanded from his best friend. James gave in with a sigh.

"Alright, boy, tell me what you want." James requested harshly.

Sirius could feel the boy tense next to him.

"Could you…"

"Yes?" At least James tried to soften his voice a bit.

"Could you just ask what their name was? I mean my parents name. I don't know, and I really don't want to be Harry Dursley, but I don't know my father's name and I think I got his last name. He was not a Dursley. My mum also wasn't a Dursley. She was my aunt's sister and my aunt got the last name from her husband. So, I'm really not a Dursley, but I think I need a last name. Everybody has one. I can't just be Harry nothing for the rest of my life, right?"

The words were a barely comprehensive as the boy stammered them quickly. Sirius saw the guilty expression in James' face and his friend's aggressiveness towards the boy had vanished.

"Sure, Harry." James answered him in a tone he usually used to explain things to Caspian or Phemie. "I would have asked that anyway. See, Sirius and I really want to know, if your parents were wizards. Your scar is cursed, and your relatives -since they are Muggles- couldn't have done that to you. And it couldn't have happened in a car accident. So probably your parents were wizards."

Harry paled a bit and touched his forehead. "You think my parents hurt me?"

Sirius squeezed the boy's shoulder. Of the two men usually, it wasn't James who was the untactful idiot.

"I didn't say that." James said quickly. "But you had contact with wizards before."

Then he turned to Sirius. "I will floo to Peter's house and check the Muggle phone book and ask Petunia to look those people up in the internat… internet whatever. I will be back as soon as I know more."

* * *

James stumbled into the living room of Petunia. She had inherited the house from Lily's and Petunia's aunt. James and Lily had waived any rights on the inheritance since James was already well of being the lone Potter heir.

Petunias fireplace was well kept and even had a small carpet in front of it, where James could brush off the dust from Sirius' fireplace. In contrast to Petunia, Sirius hadn't cleaned his fireplace since he had sent Kreacher to work for the Weasleys.

"James! What a pleasant surprise." Petunia greeted him cheerfully. "Unfortunately, you have just missed Peter and your godson. They went to buy a different quill. Dudley was struggling with the one we had bought before. Dudley is so excited about going to Hogwarts! You should see him in his uniform. I hope he and Caspian get sorted into the same house. I know your son is a Gryffindor through and through. But my Dudley is such a delicate boy. I'm not sure if he is a lion. Maybe he is a Ravenclaw. But I've heard good things about Hufflepuff as well. Oh, but where are my manners? Do you want some tea? I'm sure Peter and Dudley will be back shortly."

James sighed, but not loud enough for Petunia to hear. Petunia had been excited about Dudley getting to Hogwarts for two months now. She had asked Lily and James everything she could come up with. She was probably much better informed about the coming school year than James – maybe even better than Lily, who was a Hogwarts teacher.

"Actually, I'm here on order business." James clarified his tone serious. Petunia's eyes widened fearfully.

"Of course, should I call Peter? He has a mobile phone. I'm sure he and Dudley can buy the quill tomorrow, too." Petunia offered. How Peter had managed to learn how to use Muggle technology was a mystery to James. Lily had tried to convince James for ages now that a phone was useful, but whenever the man tried to use one he somehow managed to let it explode. Lily had told him that he shouldn't use magic on Muggle gadgets but for James using magic was like breathing. He couldn't just stop it.

"No, that wouldn't be necessary. I actually need your help Tuney." James said.

"What? My help?! Of course. How can I help?" Lily's sister stammered.

"Nothing difficult. Well, for you at least. I need a Muggle phone book and I would you like to look on the internat for somebody."

"Internet." Petunia corrected automatically. "Of course, James. The phone book is next to phone. For who should I look?"

James fetched the book and started flipping through the pages.

"Look for a woman named Petunia Dursley and Vernon Dursley. They have son whose name is Dudley. He should be 12 now. They are also live in Little Whining. Or they had been living in Little Whining for some years at least."

"Are they wizards?" She asked. "Are people connected to You-Know-Who here in our peaceful town?"

James shook his head. "They are Muggles. They fostered their twelve-year old nephew Harry -last name unknown-, who is a wizard. It's a long story. We are trying to figure out the boy's background."

"Why?" Petunia wondered. "It doesn't sound like something that concerns the order."

"The boy is quite powerful and has an unexplained curse scar." James informed Petunia briefly. Petunia paled a bit.

"Poor thing." She commented. She turned on the computer in the corner of the living room.

"Vernon Dursley?" She wanted to verify.

"Yes." James answered. He had finally found the letter "D" in the yellow phone book.

"When I worked in London, I had a colleague named Vernon Dursley. He asked me out one day, but Peter and I were already together." Petunia remembered and giggeled a little bit.

"Really? Did he marry another Petunia then?"

Petunia shook her head laughing. "No, I bumped into him a few years back. He seemed quite happy. I think his wife's name was Lisa. Or Linda. Anyway, they have a lovely daughter together. He had at least five pictures of the little girl in his purse."

James continued looking through the phone book a bit unnerved. Of course, Petunia didn't understand the seriousness of finding out who that boy was. But he knew better than to stress her out.

"Don't you think that all of this is a funny coincidence? Imagine if I would have never gotten together with Peter. Maybe I would gone out with Vernon. He was definitely my type. Then I might have become Petunia Dursley and your godson's name would be Dudley Dursley. But I guess my nephew's name would still be Caspian, not Harry."

James gulped quietly. It was definitely a strange coincidence. But he refrained from adding that his and Lily's miscarried son would have been named Harry and that he would be twelve by now.

Petunia spend almost an hour on the computer, while James gave up on the phone books after ten minutes.

"The only Vernon Dursley I can find is my former colleague, James. I'm happy that he is doing well. He the director of a company called Grunnings." She said. "I can keep looking for another Vernon, but I don't think it will help."

James nodded. "Thanks, Tuney. I would be grateful, if you could keep looking for a while. Floo Sirius' house, if you find something."

"So, is this Harry also in Hogwarts then? He is twelve? That means he is in his second year? You said that he is powerful? That's a strange word to describe a boy. Do you think he is much more talented than my Dudley? Or Caspian?" Petunia wanted to know. Harry at Hogwarts? That thought hadn't even slipped James' mind.

"He is not going to Hogwarts. But yes, he is more talented than Caspian or Dudley. Actually, I've never seen a boy his age performing magic like he is. He might be on a par with Dumbledore or Voldemort. If he really is a child for that matter." James said with a sigh.

"What do you mean, if he really is a child?"

"Well, as long as he we can't verify his background, we have to assume that he is an elaborate plot device by Voldemort." James explained.

Petunia stood up from the computer desk.

"You mean You-Know-Who might be hiding Death Eater as children? What if there are Death Eaters enrolling into Hogwarts this year?" Petunia panicked. "Dudley doesn't even know a single defensive spell. Maybe you should teach some to your godson!"

James put his hands on Petunia's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "There are no Death Eaters in Hogwarts. You don't have to worry. And Lily and Severus are there. They will protect our sons no matter what. You know that Lily loves your son like her own."

Petunia hugged James. "I know. And I love your children like they are mine, James."

* * *

 **So what do you think?**

 **There are almost one million fanfiction on this website, but my guess is there aren't many shipping Peter and Petunia.**

 **I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Next update this Saturday. Please leave reviews!**


	10. Cooking Spoon

**As promised a new chapter today!**

 **It's a story, which will built up trust between Harry and the adults very slowly. A lot will happen before we reach the comfort part of the genre 'Hurt/Comfort'.**

 **I hope you enjoy reading it, I at least enjoy writing it!**

* * *

James flooed back to Sirius's house. Expectantly Sirius had been sitting on the couch opposite of the fireplace.

"What did you find out?" The fellow auror wanted to know.

"Exactly nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yes. The only Vernon Dursley we could find doesn't have a wife named Petunia or a son." James explained.

"So, what does that mean?" Sirius asked.

"I can't really say. Petunia promised to keep looking. My best guess would be that the boy had told you a load of crap." James said.

"Just because you couldn't find them in half a day doesn't mean they don't exist. He was seven when he left. Maybe he got their names wrong." Sirius guessed.

James aggressively walked over to his friend and shook him by the shoulder. "Are you now making up excuses for the little Death Eater? He is playing you!" James shouted at his friend.

"I don't think so!" Sirius replied.

"No, you don't think, I know that much." James hissed insultingly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sirius wanted to know.

"Think about it, Sirius. He his manipulating us emotionally. He reminds you of your own screwed up childhood. He is as old as my own son and is accidentally found by me and my kids. Oh, and have you noticed that he is the spitting image of me? He could be my clone, except the eyes of course. He has Lily's eyes, that's how you get me soft. To top it all of Lily and I would have named our first son Harry."

James heard Sirius gulped. "He would have been a Harry? You never told me that." Both men had painful memories from the day, when Lily and James house got attacked by Death Eaters. The stress had induced a miscarriage, shattering the young couple's life. And Sirius had been there for all of it -and James would be thankful to the dog Animagus for the rest of his life.

"Yes, Sirius. His name would be Harry. Harry James Potter." James answered, and he couldn't hide the pain in his voice. He had said this name maybe five times in his life out loud. Although a long time had passed, it still hurt thinking about his son, who never even got a chance at life.

"You see, mate, there are too many weird coincidences. The child's story must be constructed." James said collecting himself again.

"So, what do you suggest?" Sirius shouted back.

"I'm just saying, we have to stay alert. He might not have done anything for now, but he will eventually. He probably waits for us to drop our guard completely."

"So, what? You want to imprison him in the basement like Moody suggested?" Sirius said clearly disagreeing.

"Well no. But I will stay here with you guarding the kid. Lily and Severus are researching at Hogwarts how he manages to avoid the identifying spell and how he de-aged himself so permanently."

"If Lily is already back in Hogwarts and you are here? Who takes care of Caspian and Phemie?"

"Phemie is with Lily in Hogwarts and Caspian is staying with the Weasleys. Molly is going with Caspian to Diagon Alley to buy everything for his first year. And on Monday Caspian is off to Hogwarts too." James explained.

"Wait, you and Lily are missing out on going to Diagon Alley with Caspian? You will miss out on him getting his first wand!" Sirius said exasperated.

"It's war, Sirius. There are more important things right now." James answered his voice heavy and filled with pain.

"Man seriously. This kid is harmless. I will be fine on my own."

"I'm staying." James determined. "Molly promised to share the memory with me and Lily." After a pause James asked, "Where is the kid?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Raiding the fridge in the kitchen probably. I told you, he is not more trouble than a Ghoul."

James put the arci-bracelet out of his pocket. "I picked on of the old expensive ones up at the ministry. He shouldn't be able to burn through that one." The bracelet was used by aurors to block the magic of prisoners. If the individual wearing it tried to use magic, the bracelet would get warm. Depending on how much magic he tried to use, it could also get hot, burning hot. They were mass-produced by now, but the boy had managed to burn through one of those mass-produced. But it hadn't been difficult for James as a high-ranked auror to sneak out one of the good-quality, hand-crafted ones from the ministry.

"You are not going to put that on him." Sirius insisted. "His magic is wild. Arci-bracelets are not to be used on kids."

"So, he will have to learn to control himself."

"What would you say if somebody did this to Caspian?" Sirius argued.

"That boy is not my son. Most likely he isn't even a child." James answered coldly.

"We are two aurors. Even if he is a full-ass-grown Death Eater his chances are slim without a wand. Just let him be."

"That's not up to you." James scoffed.

"Oh, so now you are the one in command? It's my house." Sirius fought back.

"Yes, but I can always ask Moody, Kingsley and Tonks what they think about your carelessness. That is if Lily doesn't kill you first, when I tell her that you slept peacefully, while a Death Eater was running free in your house."

Sirius gritted his teeth. "Fine. If you want to torture little kids, that's on you. Try not to scare him too much though."

James nodded and walked towards the kitchen.

"You coming?" He asked Sirius. Sirius sighed and followed him.

* * *

Sirius had been right. Harry was in the kitchen. The door to the fridge was open and Harry was making himself a peanut butter sandwich. And from the looks of it, it wasn't his first.

"Sorry." Harry mumbled looking at James uncertainly. He closed the door of the fridge magically and some of the mess on the table disappeared into thin air. "Sirius had said that everything in the fridge is going to go bad soon and that I could help him clean it out before he has to throw things away."

James knew that Sirius had lied to the child. Kreacher came once a week to make the groceries and the house elf certainly wouldn't leave stuff to rot in the fridge.

"That's alright." James murmured. The kid was really far too thin. He was still wearing Caspian's pyjama with the cats, frogs and brooms. Lily had found that pyjama particularly cute and she had bought one for Caspian, Dudley, Ron and Neville two years ago. All the boys had outgrown the outfit by now except for Caspian, who was rather on the small side. But on this boy the pyjamas even seemed to be a bit too big.

Some part of James got angry though. Harry looked freaking adorable with his messy hair, that seemed to make his head two times larger and those bright green eyes. James detested being manipulated and people from all sides tried it all the time. It was war after all. Voldemort, the ministry and the order, they all tried to bend people's wills and wishes in some way. And this boy almost succeeded with it. Some part of James wanted to give this child a long hug and bring him home to Lily, so that they both could fuss over him. A more rational part of James took the arci-bracelet out of his pocket.

Instantly the boy jumped up. Suddenly Harry had a wooden stick in his hand. James almost panicked thinking that the boy somehow had gotten a wand, but then he realized that it was just a wooden cooking spoon turned upside down. James grinned and Sirius behind him laughed.

"Harry, that's a cooking spoon, not a wand or weapon. The bracelet is just a precaution and if you stay calm, the bracelet will not hurt you." Sirius tried to argue, but unsuccessfully. Betrayed eyes stared back at Sirius.

"Whatever my aunt has told you about me, she is lying." Harry suddenly yelled at James.

That kind of got James off guard. The boy was sticking with the story?

"What would she be lying about?" James wanted to know.

"That… that I'm dangerous. But I'm not. Really, my magic isn't doing anything weird, if I'm not scared. I'm sorry that I bit Dudley."

James got a bit irritated. Was this a tactic to distract them?

"Kid, just don't fight me on this. The bracelet is coming on you, whether you cooperate or not."

Just as James wanted to hex the child, Harry swung the cooking spoon and yelled "Expelliarmus". Trying to use anything else than a wand as a wand was highly dangerous and would most likely not work. This time though the spell had worked partly. The spoon exploded in Harrys hand with a loud blast. But James wand also flew out of his hand towards the child. He had taken the wand from James successfully. Still, a cooking spoon really wasn't made to be used as a wand. Harry's hand got burned and Harry cried in pain as three of the child's fingers were severed by the explosion. James saw raw fear in the child's face after the boy had realized that three of his fingers were lying on the floor. Harry stared then at his right hand. His little finger, ring finger and middle finger were missing. A huge amount of blood was gushing out of the wounds and the rest of his hand was by now coloured in a dark, almost blackish red. But the boy didn't dwell too long on it as if it wasn't a life-threatening injury, but rather a scratch. He picked James' wand up and held it shakily with his unharmed hand towards James and Sirius.

"Let me go." Harry ordered, and James could see tear drops on the child's cheeks.

"That's not going to happen. I'm sorry." Sirius said stepping in front of his now unarmed friend protectively. "Now, give James his wand back. Then we will make sure that you will not lose three fingers permanently."

Harry walked back holding James' wand up high. Harry pointed it then towards the wall and the wall exploded. The kitchen got fire and while Sirius was distracted Harry jumped through the hole in the wall. He ran towards the main entrance. He tried to make the entrance explode as well, but the magic bounced of the barrier and shoved Harry to the other side of the room instead. Quickly the kid stood up again trying it again but with even more force destroying anything that was closer than three meters to the entrance.

"Stupify," Sirius shouted as the child tried to recover from his third failed attempted to blast the door open.

Before the boy could react, he got hit by the red light crashing to the ground and falling into unconsciousness.

James ran over and first picked up his wand. He put the arci-bracelet on the child before examining the damage which the exploding spoon did. James took a quick look on the wounds on the hand, and then he held the arm of the kid up in an attempt to slow down the blood loss.

"He is losing blood quickly. I don't think we can save his fingers without professional care." James said urgently.

"St Mungo's will ask too many questions we can't answer. Is Poppy back in Hogwarts yet?" Sirius asked.

James nodded. "She always comes in two weeks before the new term to brew some potions and to check her inventory."

"Hogwarts then. Is the floo to Lily's office open?" Sirius required.

"Yes, it should be." James answered. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wrapped it tightly around the child's hand in an attempt to slow the bleeding a little bit. Then he picked up the unconscious boy. "Take the severed fingers, Sirius. Poppy will need them, to fix his hand."

Sirius grimaced unhappily but did as his friend had requested.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the story! Please leave a comment.**

 **By the way, for those, who wonder how Harry knows about the hex Expelliarmus, Sirius used it on him the night before.  
**

 **Next update: Tomorrow!**


	11. Dirty Dishes

**Dear all,**

 **Have fun reading my new chapter.**

* * *

James stepped into the dusty fireplace at the Grimmauld Place. James had hoped that he could avoided Lily. He knew how Lily would fuss over child despite him warning her, but James hope got shattered as soon as he flooed into his wife's office. Not only Lily was there, but also Severus and Phemie.

"James, Merlin, what happened." Lily screamed as James stepped out of the fireplace.

"The boy tried to use a cooking spoon as a wand. It exploded in his hand." James explained briefly. Lily ran over to them and examined the boys bleeding hand.

"Who is he, mummy?" Phemie wanted to know. She was glaring at the blood which was now all over James' shirt."

"A boy James and Sirius are currently taking care of." Lily said softly, but her face showed worry.

"Come on, Phemie, how about we go see the owlery?" Snape offered to the little girl. Although Severus was a big part of Lily's life James still couldn't shake off the weird feeling when the man was around his kids. Still, James had to admit that he was quite good with Phemie. Not so much with Caspian though. Phemie didn't seem to want to leave, but Severus had her already in her arms and walked out of the room.

Sirius flooed in as well. "Hey, Lils" He greeted quickly. "Is Poppy there?"

"Yes, and you should really hurry up. He is losing too much blood."

The men nodded and started running towards the hospital wings followed by Lily.

* * *

"What is going on?" Poppy shouted as James entered the room with the unconscious boy.

"The kid tried to use a spoon as a wand. He severed three of his fingers." James summarised quickly.

"Why didn't you bring him to St Mungo's?" Poppy asked exasperated.

"Order business." James answered shortly. Poppy only bristled in anger.

"Alright, put him on that bed. I hope you brought the severed fingers as well?"

Sirius nodded and gave a bloodied handkerchief to the school matron.

"For Merlin's sake, have you men learned nothing in your auror training? That is not how you transport amputations." Poppy scolded them but took the handkerchief anyway and walked over to the boy.

"Will he be alright?" Lily asked worried. She brushed through the boy's hair.

"I don't know. Who of you idiots had stunned him?" Poppy wanted to know after checking the child's pulse.

"Me." Sirius confessed, "But he was trying to blast through the barrier of my house. I had to act before he hurt himself even more."

"What? He tried to blast through the barrier with a wooden spoon?" Lily asked unbelievingly.

"Actually, with my wand. He had stolen it." James admitted.

"How could you let that happen!" Lily berated her husband. "He is a child and you are an experienced auror."

"Well," Sirius started defending his friend, "after the attack we've just seen." Sirius stopped for a moment and frowned while studying the unconscious boy, "I kind of believe that the disguised Death Eater theory is getting more and more likely. He blasted through a wall and put my kitchen on fire. Wordlessly."

At that Lily paled a bit and stepped away from the boy.

"I talked to Petunia and we couldn't find his relatives online or in the phone book." James explained.

"That doesn't mean anything." Lily tried to argue but she looked doubtfully at the boy.

"Lily, he can do wandless magic like its child's play. And he claims to be Muggle-raised. I would say that is highly unlikely."

"Who put this on him?" Poppy disrupted them. She pointed at the acri-bracelet.

"Me. And if you don't want him to destruct the whole hospital wing, you should keep it on him."

"It will slow down the healing process." Poppy explained. She had cleaned the wound by now and was now trying to hex the fingers to the hand again.

"How long will it take to heal then?" Sirius wanted to know.

"The fingers had been severed of with magic. I can't just bind them together with magic again. It will take at least two weeks until he has full mobility again. If you keep that bracelet on him it will take more like three weeks."

James nodded. "We don't know who he is. You have to understand that we need to be cautious."

"Well, nevertheless, he will have to stay here for at least five days. He had lost a lot of blood and he severely underweight. I would keep him even longer, but I know that you will probably protest.

"Five days? But Hogwarts starts on Monday." James complained.

"I don't see why that is problem." Poppy responded.

"He is potentially dangerous." James argued.

Poppy glared at him. "Potentially dangerous? I doubt that he will be able to get up in the next five days."

"But, Poppy, you have school children coming soon…" James started, but got interrupted by Poppy.

"School children? As far as I know he is a child too. Do you have any proof that he is not?"

James shook his head. "But…" He wanted to protest. Again, Poppy didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence, "This war is going on for too long. People are getting paranoid. Good men hexing children out of fear? What is the world becoming into?"

"Look, Poppy, we have to be careful. He can't stay here, when Hogwarts starts."

"You mean, he can't be here, where he could be a danger to your son."

"Well, yes." James admitted.

"So then, you and Sirius stay here and make sure that the boy doesn't destroy Hogwarts. I will make sure that he will not die from blood loss or an infection in the meantime."

* * *

Harry woke up feeling fuzzy. There was a dull ache in his hand. He lifted his arm and saw that his hand was wrapped in a tight, thick bandage. Harry tried to feel if he still had all his fingers, but it was impossible to tell. On his other hand was the bracelet again. Of course, it was burning hot. His stupid magic.

His eyes wandered through the room. He was in some kind of hospital. Immediately he noticed James in the corner of the room rocking his chair on two legs and reading a book.

Harry suppressed wincing in pain as the bracelet got even hotter and burned through his skin. Sirius had told him that he should keep calm if he wanted to avoid pain. Harry gritted his teeth and tried to calm down. Unsuccessfully.

"Oh, you are awake." James said and stood up. He walked towards Harry. The boy jumped out of his bed, but his legs felt too wobbly and he crashed to the floor. Promptly James was at his side and roughly pulled him up and pushed him back on the bed.

"How do you feel? Should I get Poppy?" James asked. "Poppy is the school matron. You are in Hogwarts."

Hogwarts? The magic school? Harry remembered that Sirius had briefly mentioned it.

"I asked you a question." James said impatiently. "How do you feel? Poppy is brewing some potions right now. She didn't think you would wake up for the rest of the day. Should I fetch her?"

Harry blinked at the man. Harry's hand was throbbing, that was probably what woke him up. Still, he shook his head. "I'm fine. You don't need to fetch her."

James mustered him suspiciously. "Alright, if you say so.". He sat back on a chair next to Harry's bed. Why couldn't the man go back into the corner, where he had sat before? Harry felt very uncomfortable with him so close. There were a lot of questions burning on Harry's mind. But he knew better than to ask James anything. If Harry had learned anything from Vernon was, that asking things made adults angry.

Harry leaned back in his bed and tried to disappear into his pillow. He hid his hand with the bracelet under his blanket. He knew that his skin was already getting red from the heat and that there would soon be burn blisters. He tried not to think about his situation too much. Obviously, there was nothing he could do. He didn't know where this Hogwarts school even was and without his magic he couldn't go anywhere anyway. While Sirius had started to be nice to Harry, James apparently thought differently about the twelve-year old. James reminded Harry of Vernon, - maybe even scarier than Vernon since James was a wizard and his accidental magic wouldn't be able to save Harry.

Without even noticing it Harry started crying as he his mind wandered to some of his worst memories of his life trying to compare James to Vernon. He remembered his last weeks at the Dursley's, where he had been shoved around, threatened and beaten. Harry remembered, how Vernon once tried to drown Harry in the sink with dirty dishes and soapy water. Maybe he would have died, if Harry hadn't suddenly found that he could breathe under water. This man, however, was a much greater danger than Vernon. His magic probably couldn't protect him from a wizard.

"Could you please stop that?" James requested unnerved. Startled Harry looked up.

"Sorry, what?" Harry asked weakly.

"Crying, boy. It won't help." James answered harshly. Harry nodded quickly and wiped his tears away. Vernon had hated when he cried too. Usually crying made all of his punishments worse. Early in his life Harry had learned to suppress his tears until he was alone. At least James didn't seem like he was going to strike Harry. He just stared at Harry, studying him with a frown.

* * *

James couldn't really focus on his book with the boy next him. There was tension in the room and he was sure that only the bracelet prevented a bigger disaster between the man and the boy.

At first James had tried to ignore the boy's silent sobs, but he got angrier and at the end he couldn't control his temper anymore. To James' surprise as soon as he asked the boy to stop crying, the boy's face froze. All his emotions got concealed under a perfect poker face. James knew that asking a child to stop crying usually wouldn't do the trick. Caspian and Phemie would usually just sob more loudly, if James got angry at them for crying. This boy however stopped crying on cue. He just couldn't be a real child, James thought.

Still, the boy's green eyes were watery. It hurt to see his wife's and daughter's eyes with that expression. Silently James tried to use Legilimency on the boy. He had tried it several times before but had never succeeded. Maybe this time he would since the boy was so emotional right now. James supressed a smile in victory as he entered the boy's mind. Quickly found the most recent thoughts of the boy and almost instantly all feelings of victory or happiness vanished.

The boy seemed to be thinking a lot about a very obese man with a red, angry face. The boy was apparently comparing this man to James.

 _"_ _I saw you do that!" The man yelled at Harry, who hardly looked older than six. His hair was as messy as today and his clothes looked barely better than they had the day he had found him dying in the streets. The boy was standing on a chair washing the dishes._

 _"_ _But I didn't do anything, uncle." The boy argued._

 _"_ _Yes, you did! I saw that you made the plates fly into the cupboards, freak." The large man shouted, and he grabbed the boy by the collar._

 _"_ _I'm sorry. I just can't reach the upper cupboards yet and aunt Petunia gets angry if I put them on the wrong shelfs." Harry explained himself._

 _"_ _Didn't I forbid you any freakish things in this house? I give you food and clothes and roof over your head and you can't even follow one simple rule." By now the boy was barely able to breath as the man wrapped his fist tighter around the boy's collar._

 _"_ _But it isn't just one rule!" The boy fought back. "It's not fair. Why doesn't Dudley have to do any chores! He just playing video games on the computer the whole day."_

 _"_ _Because Dudley is my son and you are not. If your drunk-ass parents haven't killed themselves, maybe you would be someone's son too. Blame them. They had made you a burden on my family." The man spat into the Harry's face. Suddenly all the dishes exploded in the kitchen and even some cupboards with glass doors. All the dishes and glasses fell apart in million small pieces. Clearly the boy had displayed powerful accidental magic even at such a young age. The man's face got even redder if that was even possible. He looked like he would have a stroke any moment. He pulled the boy up and pushed the boy's head into the sink full hot soapy water and dirty dishes. Probably the only dishes which had survived the boy's outburst a moment ago._

 _At first the boy struggled with all his strength. He was kicking and scratching, but nothing helped. This man was easily ten times as heavy as the child and the kid would have no chance of fighting him. After what seemed to be minutes the boy stopped struggling and the child arms and legs were going limb._

 _"_ _Vernon!", a woman squeaked. She ran over to the sink and pushed the man away. The boy fell to floor coughing water out. "Vernon, you can't kill the boy. They will know and who knows what they will do." She scolded the man, ignorant to the boy's struggles to breath._

 _"_ _He destroyed our kitchen, Petunia. I don't see why we have to keep him."_

 _"_ _Do I have to reread you Dumbledore's letter? He has to stay."_

 _"_ _He is fine, I just roughened him up a bit. I don't see why you are getting so worked up." Vernon argued. "Boy, you can forget any food for the rest of the week." The man said to the kid, who was still trying to catch his breath. Then he left the kitchen._

 _The women threw a kitchen towel at the boy. "Dry yourself. I expect this mess to be cleaned before lunch. Dudley's friends are coming over."_

 _The woman also left the kitchen. For a few more minutes the boy simply focused on breathing, before he shakenly tried to get up. Only his third try was successful. Then he went over to one of the cupboards and took out cleaning supplies obeying his aunt's order._

As the memory ended James got shoved out of the boy's thoughts by force. The boy was in tears again. "How did you do that?" The boy asked accusingly.

"Legilimency." James replied shortly. "Were that your aunt and uncle?"

James felt sick after seeing the memory. Harry must have been younger than Phemie was now. Was this memory real? It was part of the auror training to learn to recognize fake memories. And Legilimency had been one of James' best subjects. If he hadn't been so shitty at Occlumency he would have chosen to be a specialist on Legilimency. This memory didn't seem to be unreal at all. But there was the possibility that it was the real memory of a grown man, who hid as child right now.

The boy didn't answer James question.

"What is Legilmancy?" He struggled to ask the auror his voice unsure and stuttering.

"Legilimency. It's basically mind reading. But don't worry, most of the time your thoughts are pretty much bottled up. So, tell me was this your family?"

Shyly the boy nodded.

James swung his wand swiftly and stood up. The boy's eyes widened in fear again.

"I need some fresh air. I just bound you to the bed, don't even try to get up. I will lift the bound when I come back. Just don't try anything for once." James explained and left the room in a hurry, ignoring the scared look on the Harry's face.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next update will also be tomorrow, although later than this weekend** **(CET)**

 **Please review!**


	12. Magic Pencils

**Hello,**

 **Thank you all for the reviews, follows and favourites. I enjoy writing it anyway, but I'm starting to feel confident about the story, too. :-)**

 **Be aware that I posted several new chapter quite quickly this week, so check what the last chapter was that you've read.** **Yesterday I posted a chapter, but since I updated a chapter withing 24h, didn't even show it as a new update!**

 **Have fun reading this chapter.**

* * *

As soon as he had left the hospital wing he slumped down on a stone bench in the hall way. Whatever had happened this person's life- whether or not he was a child – was just simply cruel. He could have been killed that day. And his guardians didn't even bat an eye. _I expect this mess to be cleaned before lunch._ James shuddered. Even if this boy was a Death Eater in disguise, some part of him wouldn't be able to blame him for hating Muggles. But what did the woman say? A letter from Dumbledore? _Do I have to reread you Dumbledore's letter? He has to stay._ How on earth was Dumbledore involved with this child? Dumbledore had died, when the boy had been around four years old -if the boy was really a boy of course. Why would Muggles feel threatened by something a dead wizard wrote them years ago? If Dumbledore was involved, it could explain how this child disappeared from any surveillance system set up for the wizards of Britain. Dumbledore had been powerful; nobody really knew what that man had been able to do. If Dumbledore knew about a powerful child, he would have every reason to hide him from Voldemort. But why didn't Dumbledore tell anybody from the order about him? Even if he hadn't told James or Sirius or Lily, he would have told somebody he trusted. And that person would have come forward about the boy after James and Sirius had dragged him in front of the order and accused him of being a Death Eater.

Maybe the memory was fake after all. He would have to show the memory to Snape. James hated to admit it, but the stern Hogwarts professor was better in Legilimency than James. Determined James ran through the familiar Hogwarts' hallways towards Lily's office and burst into the room.

"Still no manners, Potter. There is this thing called knocking." Severus complained as James came into the room. He didn't look up from a book he was studying.

"It's my wife's office, not yours, Snape. But I didn't come to pick a fight, I need your help." James exclaimed.

"What is it, honey?" Lily asked. Her voice was soft, but James knew that later that day she would probably scold James about the tone between James and her childhood friend.

"I… I need Severus' help." James admitted. "I just had a chance to get into the child's mind and I need to know if a memory is real or not."

Now, Severus turned away from the book and looked up to James his curiosity triggered. "Put it into vail and let me have a look on it."

"Just read it from my mind." James suggested quickly. He wasn't happy about having Severus in his mind, but the auror was sure that if he put it into a vail, Lily would insist on seeing it too. He wasn't sure how his wife would react, but certainly she wouldn't think rationally after seeing what had happened to the child.

Severus nodded. The professor's dark eyes bored into his and took James' a lot of will power to no push the man out of his mind. James braced himself as he was forced to see the entire memory again.

Afterwards Severus was silent for a long moment.

"What is the memory about?" Lily wanted to know breaking the silence first. Curiously she looked from her husband to Slytherin's head of the house.

"Child abuse." Severus answered sternly. "And yes, I believe the memory is real."

"Everything? Couldn't he had altered it a bit? What about the part, when Dumbledore was mentioned?"

"What do you think, Potter? You also think that the memory is real, you just don't want it to be real. Dumbledore was not the saint as many believed him to be."

Lily seemed to get annoyed by the men since she didn't know what the conversation as about.

"What has Dumbledore to do with the boy? He knew the boy?"

"Basically, the boy's guardian said that they can't get rid of the boy, because of _Dumbledore's letter_.", Severus explained further.

"It could be a different Dumbledore." James suggested.

Snape just scoffed. "Don't be a daft, Potter. A powerful wizard child, which is unknown to everybody, and a letter from a man named Dumbledore. That's not a coincidence."

"Please, Severus, talk more civil to my husband." Lily pleaded. "What exactly happened? Clearly James doesn't want me to see the memory."

"The boy's male guardian almost drowned the child in a dirty sink after a display of accidental magic. The child's other guardian afterwards complained that they can't kill the boy, because of a letter our dear deceased headmaster wrote." Severus summarized in a voice so even, that James got goose bumps.

"That's horrible. James, are you sure, that you couldn't find the boy's guardians?" Lily said. She got a bit paler and her eyes watery. James was suddenly very glad, that he hadn't shown the memory to his wife.

"No. Although Petunia is still searching for the people the boy mentioned. Can you say how old the memory is, Severus? Maybe it is the real memory of somebody older hiding in a child's body." James desperately tried to cling on the hope he hadn't verbally and physically attacked a real, young boy, who had suffered enough already.

"The memory feels like it is between five and ten years old. It can't be older than that. Also, he mentioned, that his cousin plays on the computer. That's a quiet recent Muggle invention, if I'm correct."

"Wait five to ten years? How old was the boy in the memory?" Lily wanted to know, her face showed fear and shock.

"Six or seven maybe." James answered. He didn't dare to look at his wife but studied his feet instead.

"More like five." Severus corrected. James could have hit the man for his honesty. James felt sick about what had happened, and he was a trained auror, who had seen all kinds of cruelties. His wife on the other hand was a teacher at Hogwarts, who loved children and would do anything to protect them. It's not like she was sheltered from the real world - it was war after all-, but still Lily took everything much harder than he ever would.

"Have you found a way to test, if the boy's age is real?" James tried to steer the conversation into some more practical matters.

"Well, we are not very sure, but apparently spells and potions can change one's appearance, but one can't get really younger." Lily explained. She was fighting hard to stay composed after hearing about the boy's memory. "Even the philosopher's stone can only extend the life span, but not actually give you years back. Real de-aging is as far as any research suggests impossible."

"So how does that help us?" James wanted to know.

"Well, actually quite simple, Potter. Children have epiphyseal plates, also called growth plates, in their bones. As they age those close. Any known magic could make the person appear younger but wouldn't be able to change the age of the bones." Severus informed his old nemesis.

"How do we learn about the age of the bones?" James aske finally hoping to find out, if he was dealing with a boy or a criminal.

"Well, that's a point where Muggles are more advanced than we are. They have machines to make pictures of bones." Snape said.

"It's called X-Ray machines. Every Muggle hospital has one and some practices as well." Lily added. "Severus and I thought, that you and Sirius could bring the child to a Muggle hospital. Use the severed fingers as an excuse for an appointment. The doctors will make an X-Ray for sure. You just need to have a peek on it. Later you can show me the memory and I can tell you, if the growth plates are closed. But the doctor would mention it anyway, if they were closed, since it would be quite worrisome for a child."

"Taking him out to the Muggleworld?" James doubted. "That's a bit risky, don't you think?"

"As far as Poppy had told us, the boy is quite weak. And he has the arci-bracelet. Are you really that scared of a little boy, Potter?" Severus demurred his voice mocking.

"Fine, I will do it. Honey, you have to explain me, how a Muggle hospital works." James answered angrily.

His wife pursed her lips. "Maybe I should go with you two. We don't want to attract too much attention."

"It might be dangerous." James objected.

"I could go with them. I know more about Muggles than those two pure-blooded idiots." Severus offered.

But Lily shook her head. "Three men accompanying a little boy to a hospital might already be enough to attract attention. I will go with you and Sirius, James."

"Who will watch Phemie?" James protested. While the boy himself might not be a danger, they didn't know if he might manage to contact Death Eaters.

"I'm fairly capable of watching the Potter princess." Snape intervened. James gave up with a sigh. It was hard to admit but Phemie actually liked Severus. The man was always decent to his daughter. While the Hogwarts's professor still had a sharp tongue, when he talked to James or even Caspian, he had a way with their little daughter. Maybe it was because Phemie exactly looked like Lily, when she was that age.

"Where is Phemie by the way?" James wondered suddenly, his stomach tightening.

Lily's eyes widened.

"She wanted to find you. Severus got her some magical coloured pencils and she wanted to show them to you." Lily explained.

"You let her go to the hospital wing?"

* * *

"Where is daddy?" A small, but confident voice asked startling Harry, who had dozed off. Harry opened his eyes and saw a little girl with red hair standing next to his bed. It was the same girl that had found him the day he got stabbed.

"I… eh… don't know." Harry answered. The girl's green eyes narrowed. 'Huh', Harry thought for the first time, 'green eyes are quite pretty.'

"And who are you?" The little girl demanded to know.

"I'm… eh… Harry." Harry stuttered.

"Hello, Harry, I'm Phemie. I saw you in my mum's office. How is your hand? I've never seen so much blood." Phemie said, her eyes now wide with curiosity and a bit of empathy.

"It's better. It doesn't hurt anymore." Harry explained. He held his bandaged hand up for her to see.

"I broke my arm once. That had hurt a lot." She told Harry.

Harry grimaced remembering how he had broken his arm after Dudley had pushed him down the stairs. "I know. Happened to me too a few times."

Suddenly the little girl jumped on Harry's bed. She took of her shoes and threw them across the room. Comfortably she sat down on Harry's lap facing Harry.

"You have to be more careful, if you get hurt so much. Do you play a lot of Quidditch? The first year my brother was allowed to fly on a broom he broke his arm twice and once his leg. Then mum locked up the brooms in a cupboard for the rest of the summer. Caspi had cried for two days!" Phemie recalled laughing.

"Flying on brooms?" Harry wondered. And what was Quidditch?

"Oh, are you Muggle-born? Flying on brooms like on your pyjama." She pointed at the brooms on Harrys blue pyjama, he had been wearing for over a day now. "Wizards and witches can fly on brooms. My brother has the same pyjama." The little girl commented.

Flying on brooms? It didn't seem too weird to Harry though. In fairy tales witches are always flying on brooms. Why shouldn't that be real, if witches were real.

"You are a wizard, right? How old are you? When do you start Hogwarts? I'm going to Hogwarts in five years!" She announced proudly. "And I will be a Gryffindor like mum and dad, because I'm very courageous."

"I'm a wizard. I think. But I don't think I'm going to get to go to school." Harry answered, his voice sounded defeated.

"Why not?" Phemie asked disappointed.

"I… I don't have parents like you do. Nobody is sending me to school." Harry explained. He decided not to add to his story that everybody thought that he was a danger and apparently the follower of a dark wizard.

"Mum said dad and Sirius are taking care of you. I'm sure they will send you to Hogwarts." Phemie grinned at him, but Harry's gut just twisted, when he thought about the girl's father.

"Maybe." Harry tried to reassure her and Phemie continued grinning.

"Do you want to draw with me?" Phemie suggested enthusiastically. "I have magic pencils! Everything you draw with them becomes real for a few seconds."

"I don't think I can draw." Harry held up his bandaged hand again as an explanation.

"Oh." The little girl glanced at his hand unhappily. But in a matter of seconds she was smiling again.

"Just tell me what I should draw!"

This time she got Harry to smile as well. "Alright. How about a flying motorcycle?"

* * *

James ran towards the hospital wing, followed by Lily and Snape. As he approached the door to the part of Hogwarts, which was most hated by almost all students, he heard children laughing. He could clearly make out Phemie's giggles, but also Caspian's. Wasn't Caspian supposed to be with the Weasleys? How did he manage to go to Hogwarts? The only open floo was the one in Lily's office.

James opened the heavy door with magic and marched into the room. Then he discovered that it hadn't been his son's giggles, but the foundling's. He realized that he just heard the child laugh for the first time.

Phemie was sitting on his legs. Between them was a big medicine book, which they used as pad to draw on.

Light, colours and some strange looking figures, were flying out of the paper around the head of the kids before disappearing into thin air. Magical pencils have always been Phemie's favourite toys.

Startled the children turned toward the adults as they had entered.

"Phemie! What are you doing." James yelled. He didn't fail to notice, that while Phemie barely shrugged, the boy seemed to be close to panic.

"I'm drawing with Harry." She put a comforting hand on Harry's forearm. She had also noticed the boy's fear. "Don't be angry with him. It was my idea." She said protectively.

Lily had now caught up with James. She took her husband hand. It was her subtle way to tell him to keep his temper in check.

"It's alright, Phemie. But we were looking for you. Next time when you can't find daddy, just return to my office." Lily said softly. "And now, Severus will take you to my office. Me and James, we need to talk to Harry."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Next update is on Wednesday!**


	13. X-Ray

For the first time in his life Harry was in a real hospital somewhere in London. He was sitting between James and Sirius. They were in a waiting room packed with old people, who were coughing and sneezing and little children, who were crying, while desperate parents tried to calm them down with sodas and candies from the vending machine. Lily was sitting next to James, but Harry wished that they could switch places. The man was making him awfully nervous. James had placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. While for an outsider it might look like a comforting gesture, Harry felt quite uncomfortable by the tight grip which held him in place.

He had barely been able to walk and that thing they called apparating was quite uncomfortable, although Harry realized that he had done it several times before unknowingly. They had expected him to puke, but Harry managed to compose himself.

The school matron had been very unhappy about them leaving, but after a few hushed discussions, which Harry couldn't hear, she agreed that it was for the best.

Harry really didn't understand what they were doing here anyway. Poppy had done a fine job. She had checked the wound before they had left. To Harry's surprise he still had all fingers and he could even feel them a little bit.

Uncomfortably he was picking on his new clothes. They weren't really new, but they were better than anything he had ever gotten from the Dursleys and far better than anything he had managed to fish out of charity clothing bins. The pants were still a bit too wide, but they had found a belt which would hold them in place. Probably the clothes belonged to the couple's son and Harry had to return them afterwards. But they had argued with him that he couldn't go out in public in the fluffy pyjama.

They had even removed the bracelet, deciding that the doctor would question the burns on his arm. Lily had for some reason been very angry about the blisters.

"Harry Smith." A doctor announced with a clipboard in his hand. "You are next."

The three adults stood up. When Harry tried to get up, he got dizzy again and the only thing that prevented him from falling was James' strong hand on his shoulder. Poppy had explained that he had used up a lot of his magic and that he had lost a lot of blood. He would feel dizzy and weak for a while.

James kneeled down next to Harry, so that he could look Harry directly into his eyes.

"I'm going to carry you, Harry. You are swaying on your feet. Don't throw a tantrum now. I'm not going to hurt you." He whispered to Harry, so that nobody else could hear them. Still, he sounded definitive and firm.

Harry slowly nodded, knowing that this was not the time to fight the man. He looked pleadingly to Sirius, but the man hadn't heard the other. Without any trouble James picked him up at once. The man probably had a lot of practice carrying his own children. Shyly Harry put his arms around the man's neck. His heart was racing, and he wondered if the man could hear his heart hammering inside his chest. Luckily nothing exploded around them. Maybe he was just too tired.

James put him down on examination table, which had paper towel as a cover. It smelled strongly like some of the cleaning supplies aunt Petunia made him use. Harry decided that he didn't like hospitals.

"So, what happened, little man?" A cheerful doctor asked. Only glancing shortly at the three adults. James was in front of the window, while Sirius seemed to be guarding the door. The doctor didn't notice their positions though.

"He severed three fingers, while playing with fireworks. It happened two weeks ago. He is a foster child and we just got him two days ago. We didn't manage to get his old medical files, I'm sorry about that." Lily explained, and Harry was surprised how she managed to lie so smoothly.

The young doctor smiled sadly at him. "Fireworks? I don't understand how a child can get his fingers on fireworks. Alright, Harry, let's see the damage."

The doctor opened the bandage carefully. He seemed surprised as he saw the wound. "You are lucky, Harry." The doctor said. "Your previous doctor was very skilled. I think in a few months your fingers will feel the same as before. Honestly, this is the best work, I've ever seen."

"I will need to take an X-Ray though, since you can't give me any previous medical files." The doctor added turning to the adults, and James nodded satisfied.

Next thing Harry was led to an X-Ray machine, where another nice lady doctor took a picture. James and Sirius needed some persuasion by both the doctor and Lily, who explained that they couldn't be in the room, while the picture was taken. Apparently, that was dangerous. After the doctor had finally managed to take the picture, she had a sad look on her face. She took a lolly out of jar and gave it to Harry with a weak smile. Then after a few more seconds of consideration she put her hand in the jar again and put a handful of lollies in the pockets of his jeans. Harry wasn't sure what to do with the lolly in his hand and stared at it a bit dumbfounded. He tried to remove the wrapping deciding that he should better eat it now, before any of the adults decided to take it from him. He was struggling with opening the sweet, since he could barely move one of his hands. Before he could wonder, if using magic to open the lolly would attract attention, James took the lolly from him. For a few seconds Harry thought that James would forbid him any candy like Vernon always did. Instead the man just unwrapped it wordlessly and gave it back to Harry, who hesitantly put it into his mouth. James didn't even look at him. The man had a deep frown on his face and was looking at the X-Ray pictures of Harry's hand. Lily was standing next to the man holding his hand while explaining something to him in a whispery tone. When she saw Harry looking at them, she winked at him smiling sadly.

Afterwards the doctor explained to them that the fingers were healing fine. The doctor was actually surprised that the accident had happened only two weeks ago, the healing process was quite quick. Harry didn't contradict Lily's tale about how and when he had lost his fingers. The accident had happened not even two days ago. It was probably because of his and Poppy's magic, that the healing process was so quick. Still the cherish mood of the doctor had disappeared for some reason. He wanted to check Harry with his statoscope as well. Quickly Lily helped Harry out of his sweatshirt and he noticed the doctor's glance on his most recent scar from the stab wound and on all his other scars which had been caused by Dudley or Vernon. Some of them had happened on the streets; Harry was not always quick and attentive enough.

Lastly, the doctor told him to stand on the scale and Harry really couldn't understand why his weight would matter, if he hurt his fingers. But as all the adults waited patiently for him to do as the doctor said, Harry hesitantly stepped on the scale. He felt awfully exposed in front of the four people. Suddenly he was very conscious of himself. He knew that he wasn't pretty. He didn't have any muscles and his arms were like sticks. All of his ribs were visible, and Harry always got reminded of a funny Halloween skeleton, when he looked at himself in the mirror.

The doctor was frowning as he wrote the number. Harry could feel anger building up in the man. The doctor started looking for something in his cupboard rather aggressively and to Harry's surprise like the other doctor he also fished out a jar of sweets.

"Take some." He offered to Harry, hiding his anger as he smiled at the boy.

"The other doctor gave me some already." Harry politely declined, not wanting to take more than he was allowed.

"I know. Take more please." The doctor repeated forcefully.

Harry nodded and took three gummy bears out of the jar. The doctor was looking at him encouragingly and shook the glass. Hesitantly Harry took two more.

"Can one of you take Harry outside, while I talk to two of you." He now addressed the adults. He was much harsher with them than with Harry.

James looked to Sirius, who agreed with a nod. "Come on, Harry." The grey-eyed man said. Harry was glad to wait with Sirius instead of James and followed the man out of the examination room. All of the five gummy bears already in his mouth.

* * *

"What is it?" James asked. Lily had already confirmed that the boy's bones were not older than twelve. They had gotten a glance on the X-Rays as soon as they had been done. Knowing that the child really was a child made it was so much worse to watch the rest of the examination. James had noticed that the child was light, when he had carried him, but he could have never imagined that he was a skeleton underneath his clothes. In the sterile neon-light one could count every rib of the boy. His skin had an unhealthy pale, greyish colour, which made countless old scars so much more visible.

Some part of James just wanted to run out of the examination room and scream. Had he really threatened and hexed a little child? Was Harry really just a child? Lily was guaranteeing it and for once he wished that he could just not believe his wife.

"You say he is a foster child." The doctor began. "Where had he been before?"

"He ran away from home and lived on the streets for quiet a while." James clarified.

"He was badly abused. I hope that is already known?"

James gulped. Yes, he had seen one memory of the boy and the scars on the child's bodies just completed the story about his upbringing. "He had told us some things." The auror confirmed.

"His hand alone was already broken twice and not properly set. I don't know how he is even able to move that hand normally. And you have seen the scars. It will take him a long time to trust anybody ever again."

Lily clutched James' hand tightly. "We will do our best." She promised.

The doctor laughed sarcastically. "I hope you do more than that. It's a miracle that he is even alive. Some of the scars seem to have been caused by serious wounds. And he needs to gain weight. Fast. He is off any chart. If that doesn't change soon, he may suffer long-term physical and even mental consequences."

James hugged his wife now. And they had thought that that little stick on two legs was a Death Eater? The war might have made them more paranoid than they had realized. Suddenly he was awfully thankful to Sirius, who had at least fed the child. If James had been the one in charge, he probably wouldn't even had done that much.

"I will have to call the child protective service though." The doctor concluded. "I don't have any data about the boy. As far as I know, you could have been the abusers and until you haven't been cleared, you are not taking that kid home."

James sighed heavily. He looked his wife in the eyes. She nodded in agreement. She took out her wand and silently obliviated the man from any memory of the four wizards, who had come to the hospital today.

Before the man could recover from the confusion which the spell caused temporarily, James had grabbed all his notes on Harry and the couple had left the examination room.

Sirius immediately understood that they had to leave fast as Lily and James came running into the waiting room. Without giving the boy any time to protest, Sirius lifted Harry up and followed his best friends out of the hospital.

* * *

 **As promised a new chapter today! I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **I'm very thankful to anybody who takes a few minutes to write a review!**

 **Next update Friday!**


	14. Pizza

To Harry's confusion the three adults had decided to flee the hospital. Sirius was carrying him now and in a fast pace they left the hospital and walked down a busy street. After a while they stopped.

"What happened?" Sirius wanted to know. He put Harry down and stretched his back. Sirius breath was surprisingly calm after running carrying him the whole street down.

"They wanted to call the Muggle Child Protective Services." James informed his friend briefly and the other man seemed to understand the problems that came with that. Harry himself was also glad not to get the attention of the Child Protective Services. Even now Harrys biggest fear was, that somebody would take him back to the Dursleys.

"You've been very brave today." Lily said, and it took Harry a few seconds to realize that she was talking to him. Why had he been brave? Harry didn't really understand what he got praised for, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Thanks." He muttered, not really knowing what else to answer.

Suddenly Lily was very close to him. Before he could even flinch, Harry found himself in a hug by the red-haired woman. Harry hadn't been hugged a lot in his life. Mostly children liked to hug him when he turned into his dog form, but the Dursleys certainly had never hugged him. Once a girl in kindergarten had given him an uncomfortable tight hug, after he had repaired her stuffed animal with his magic. But other than that, this was Harry's first hug.

He could smell her flowery perfumed shampoo and the scent almost made him sneeze. Until now Harry hadn't really noticed that he had been cold, but Lily was warmer than him. A weird feeling welled up in his chest. He was scared and sad, but in the same time he felt oddly comfortable. Shyly he also wrapped his arms around the woman's shoulder. This seemed to be a cue to the woman and pulled him even tighter against her chest.

"Harry, from now on, we will protect you." She whispered into his ear. "Nobody will hurt you. I promise."

Harry felt another hand caressing his hair. Startled he recognized James, who was now standing above the two. But James expression was so much milder than earlier today. He had a warm smile paired with pained look in his eyes. Sirius was now close too. He patted Harry's shoulder encouragingly.

After a while, Lily let go of the hug. Her hands were still on Harry's shoulder. She had cried, Harry saw. Her eyes were reddened and her cheeks wet.

"You've been very brave Harry." She repeated, brushing the tears away with one hand. "All your life. But from now on it's going to be better." She wiped one strand of hair out of his face. "We will take care of you." She promised. Harry started to feel nervous. What was this all about? Didn't they believe anymore that he was an evil Death Eater? And why would anybody want to take care of him?

James behind her cleared his throat. "We should go back to Hogwarts. It's already getting dark. I feel like Poppy will find a way to give a teacher and two aurors detention, if we ignore her plead to bring Harry back as soon as we are done."

"Let's grab some dinner first." Lily suggested omitting her husband request. "I know a good restaurant which is close. We can floo back from there to my office. The restaurant owner is a squib, who uses the floo system to get fresh ingredients."

"I'm quite hungry." Sirius agreed. "And since I've pranked some of the school's elves in my fourth year everything they serve me tastes like cardboard with salt and vinegar."

James chuckled. "I'd told you that house elves are off limits. Alright, let's have some dinner. Also, there is that toy shop close by, which Caspian likes. How about we take a look and Harry chooses something to survive the next few days in a hospital bed."

Harry stepped away a few paces. What was this all about? They would go to a restaurant with him? Didn't they know that waiters would look weirdly at them, if only the adults ordered but not Harry? The Dursley even got into a fight with a waitress once, because the waitress didn't want to accept that Harry wouldn't get anything, while Dudley had ordered not only the biggest meal but also a dessert. At the end of the day the Dursleys had been kicked out of the restaurant and Harry had been the one they had blamed. And what was this about going to a toy shop? There had to be trick, a very mean one at. Why would they pretend to be nice to him?

Harry looked around. If he ever had a chance to run it was now. He didn't have the bracelet on and he wasn't locked up. Of course, all of them had their wands, but Harry was quick and small. He was good in running away. There was this problem that he felt weak and that he hadn't managed to walk on his own today, but if he gritted his teeth he would do it. He had to. For a second his tiredness and weariness disappeared as he felt magic rushing through him. Quickly he tried to turn into his dog form. In shock he realized he couldn't. He had done too much magic the past few days. He had never reached his limits before; he hadn't even known that there were limits to the reserves of his powers. His magic rushed through him but trying to use it to turn into a dog was as pointless as trying to lift a car with his bare hands.

As the rush of magic disappeared Harry's limbs suddenly felt as heavy as led. He knew he was swaying. And for the second time today only somebody's firm grip prevented him for falling. This time it was Sirius who was holding him.

"How about a piggyback ride, Harry?" Sirius asked cheerfully. Apparently, none of the adults had noticed that Harry had just tried to use his magic to get away. James hadn't lied, when he had told Harry, that he couldn't read his mind all the time. But that has been it. Without his magic, Harry couldn't even do a single step, let alone run away from three fit adults.

A piggyback ride on Sirius' back seemed more appealing to Harry than being carried by the other man. Walking on his own definitely wasn't an option anymore. Slowly Harry nodded and got on Sirius' back as the other man squatted down in front of him and offered him his back. Sirius stood up with Harry on his back with ease.

"Lead the way, Lily." Sirius asked. Again, James and Lily were looking at Harry smilingly. What was this all about?

At first Harry tried to hold his head high and prevent any unnecessary physical contact. But the adults walked slowly now, and Harry got exhausted from keeping his body tense. After a while the two men started talking, but for once not about Harry. They seemed so much more relaxed than before. Lily and James were laughing at a joke Sirius made but that Harry didn't really understand. For the first time none of them seemed to be nervous around him. Harry's head got heavy and he tried putting his chin on Sirius' shoulder. He half expected the man to suddenly drop him, but Sirius didn't even seem to notice the gesture. He was still chatting with the couple laughingly about something that had happened at a ministry.

The street lights and shop lights turned on and the London's streets seemed to get even more busier as people rushed home from their work.

To them they probably looked like a nice family, Harry thought longingly. He would rather look like Sirius, but Harry hadn't failed to notice that James really looked like he could be his father, except Harry didn't have glasses. Nobody could have ever mistaken him to be Vernon's son. Some people suggested that he looked a bit like his aunt, but Petunia had always dismissed it quickly, explaining he had inherited nothing from his mother's side. He also had green eyes like Lily, which made him a bit proud. Lily was a beautiful woman after all.

Harry had dozed off, when he heard little bells jingle as they entered a restaurant. He friendly waitress greeted them.

"Lily, how nice to see you again." She proclaimed giving Lily a short hug. "And with your family finally! That must be the infamous James Potter." She greeted the man with a handshake.

"Lily always comes here with some Hogwarts teachers on Friday afternoons." She added quickly as she saw the confusion on James' face.

"Oh, and the little one must be Caspian. He looks just like his father. Except for the eyes. Those two green emeralds can just be Lily's. You look a bit under weather, sweetie." She turned now to Harry, who was still on Sirius back. She brushed through his hair and smiled at him. "And really Lily, what are you feeding him, he will be the thinnest child in class, when he starts Hogwarts on Monday. I will pack you some extra cake for him. On the house of course."

"Actually, Olivia" Lily explained to the waitress slightly blushing, "he is not our son. Caspian is with the Weasley's tonight. This is Harry… he is a distant relative of James and we are currently taking care of him" She clarified hastily. Harry wondered if the adults had made up all the cover up stories beforehand or if they were just that good at improvising.

"Oh." The woman wondered. "He still just looks like James. A real Potter then. Well, let's get some food into you, Harry. Nobody leaves this restaurant as thin as you are. And nice to meet you too. You must be a friend of Lily's." She lastly addressed Sirius winking at the man flirtingly.

At a table Sirius finally let Harry down. Again, Harry was sitting next to James, but Harry felt a little bit more at ease than at the hospital. Maybe he was just too tired care anymore. There were four menus on the table and Sirius offered him one. Shyly Harry opened it. Did they want him to order something? Surely, they would say something, if he wasn't allowed to order. Or maybe he expected him to know that he wouldn't get something. But why would Sirius give him the menu then? The normal thing would be, if he also got food, right? None of the adults noticed his disarray. All three of them were too absorbed into the menu themselves. He felt his heart racing as he too browsed through the menu. To Harry's horror there weren't any pictures. The Dursley usually went to big fast food chain, which had always advertised the food in big, bright pictures. Harry couldn't read. How was he supposed to order, if he couldn't read it and if there weren't any pictures? As he panicked somewhere in the shop a glass exploded. Damn his magic. It wasn't strong enough to help him run away, but it was always strong enough to cause destruction around him. Surprised the adults looked into the direction of the broken glass. Lily and Sirius just shrugged losing their interest immediately, but James glanced at Harry. The man had understood that it had been Harry's magic. He expected the man to get angry or even ask Harry to wear the bracelet again, but the man didn't scold him. He just smiled amused and turned back to the menu.

"So, how can I help you?" The waitress returned after a while with a note pad. Lily, Sirius and James had already decided and ordered quickly. Then the waitress turned to Harry, who didn't even have the slightest idea what was written in the menu.

"Harry, what do you want?" She asked smiling patiently. Harry looked desperately around the table, trying to find some clue about what he was supposed to do on the adults' faces. To Harry's annoyance they just smiled stupidly at him. What was wrong with them?

If he could recall any of the orders of the three wizards, Harry could just repeat it, but they all had said it so quickly that Harry couldn't remember any of the orders. And for certain they expected Harry to order something more modest. That's what Petunia wanted him to do, when they got forced into a situation, where Harry had to order something to keep appearances and not get kicked out of restaurants.

"Eh… nothing." Harry answered thinking that this answer couldn't be so wrong. "I'm not hungry." He added, although that was a huge lie. His stomach had started rumbling since he woke up in the hospital wing earlier today.

"That's not an option, Harry." James declared firmly. "Give us a few more minutes, Olivia. I'm sure he will decide soon."

The waitress left, and Harry nervously browsed through the menu. He looked at the letters hoping that he would somehow understand them. But nothing. For him letters were just strange geometrical forms on a white background. He knew some single letters meant, but he never had understood, how that was supposed to help him reading. As the adults let him stroll through the menu, they started chatting about that ministry again and how the ministry apparently wanted to influence the new Hogwarts schedule.

"Do you know what you want, sweetie?" Lily wanted to know after what must have been five minutes.

"Fries?" Harry answered. Fries were never wrong, right? They were cheap and what kind of restaurant didn't have fries on its menu somewhere? This one apparently as he learned, when Sirius chuckled.

"They don't have fries, kiddo. It's an Italian restaurant. But there must be something you like. Don't you like pizza or pasta?"

"Pizza is good." Harry agreed quickly. He was relieved that he finally got a clue on what is on the menu.

"What pizza?" Lily continued asking. Honestly, Harry didn't care. Any pizza was fine with him. Couldn't they just order for him?

"I don't know. The cheapest one?" Harry suggested. But that was apparently the wrong answer as all the adults glowered at him.

"They all cost the same." James declared. "So, what do you like?" Harry looked at the menu in confusion. Really, they all costed the same? While Harry couldn't read letters, he could read numbers, thanks to a very motivated teacher, when he first started kindergarten. She had liked Harry a lot for some reason and had spent hours playing with him a game which taught numbers to children. Thus, Harry knew, that all the numbers in the menu were different. How could something have the same price then? Maybe it was an offer by the restaurant, Harry decided. The man didn't have a reason to lie to Harry.

"I like the one with tuna." Harry answered hoping that it was on the menu.

The three grown-ups relaxed again. As it seemed Harry got the answer right this time. Satisfied Lily waved at the waitress to finalize the order. The restaurant wasn't to busy and their order quickly came.

She had also put a big glass of orange juice in front of him. The grown ups just had some sparkling water and Harry wondered who had ordered juice for him. But it seemed to be his juice, nobody scolded him as he drank it.

Harry was pretty sure that he had never eaten such a large pizza. He had bought himself a piece of pizza sometimes, when he had stolen enough money on the streets, but a whole pizza to himself?

With a full stomach and a scone ice cream they left restaurant again. Except from one piece which Sirius had stolen from him, Harry had somehow managed to eat the whole pizza. Comfortably he was on the man's back again trying not to get ice cream on the man's shirt.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

 **Next chapter: Toy shopping with Harry. What could possibly go wrong with that? Update tomorrow!**


	15. Toy Wand

The walked to a toy shop. A toy shop? Adults could be so confusing. Not a few hours ago they had been ready to lock him up and now they wanted to buy a toy for him?

Harry tried to understand how all their kindness was a trick. But why would they try to trick him? It wasn't like Harry had any expectation from them, that they could crush. He wouldn't start trusting them, just because they gave him food and toys. Harry knew better than that. So, Harry decided that he would just accept all their kindness and when they turned evil again eventually, he would just shrug it off and be happy that he got a pizza out of this stupid trick.

They entered the empty shop. The shop had quit old-fashioned toys, carefully handcrafted out of wood. It wasn't the kind of toys that Dudley would have liked, and Harry also didn't know what to make of them. A nicely dressed man in a dark red suit approached them as they entered the shop. He was wearing a cylinder hat and a dark wooden cane with a skilfully decorated silver handle. He didn't really seem to need the cane though. He was using it emphasize a welcoming gesture. Vernon would have said that he looked like a freak.

"Hello, how can I help you? Are you looking for something more specific or do you just want to have a look around?" He greeted them.

James smirked at him. "We are looking for toys, which are a bit more…magical."

James opened his coat and showed the man his wand in his inner pocket.

The man grinned back at him. "Of course. I think there might be something at the back of the shop. Is it your first time in my lovely store?"

Lily shook her head. "No, we've been quite a lot actually. But Harry is here for the first time."

"Starting Hogwarts on Monday, Harry? A lot of children get a present before their first year. My shop has been overrun with children the past few days." The man said to Harry.

"I…eh…" Harry wanted to answer, but James was quicker.

"He is not going to Hogwarts this year. Still, he wants to pick out toy." James explained.

This year? James made it sound like Harry would go to Hogwarts some year? But that was only absurd. Harry might be a wizard, but he certainly wasn't good enough to go to a magical school, right? Also, a school for wizards and witches had to be expensive. Harry didn't even own the clothes he wore.

The four wizards followed the shopkeeper to the back of the shop.

"Unfortunately, we are not allowed to sell pranks this summer. Apparently, the number of pranks has hugely increased the past years and I got asked to stop selling them in the weeks before school." The man apologized. But Harry wasn't really listening to him anymore. Behind an unsuspicious door, was a completely different shop. While the front shop was small and modest, the backdoor hall with was grand. A pompous staircase in the middle of the room led up to balconies on two different levels. Candle lights on various golden chandeliers brightened up the room in a warm, orange light, much prettier than any artificial light. There were about thirty people in the room, most of them children. They played with various toys Harry had never seen before. Somewhere he recognized a table, where little children were drawing with magical pens like the ones Phemie had shown him earlier today. One little girl, not older than five, was flying on a broom through the hall, her parents yelling at her to come down. Other children played with little dragons who spat fire or dolls which changed their hair every few seconds.

"How about you take a look Harry." Sirius asked him after he let him down. "Choose anything you want." He offered grandly.

"We should walk around with him." Lily suggested. "He can barely walk and what if somebody ask him questions."

"I think Harry deserves to be off the leash for a bit. We can watch him from the Quidditch section." Sirius argued glancing at a broom, who was displayed in the middle of the room in a showcase. Harry looked at the broom. Brooms had never been anything other than cleaning tools to Harry. He really didn't understand the man's excitement about the broom.

"Really, Sirius, sometimes I feel like I'm raising three children. We came here for Harry, not so that you can buy a new broom. But alright, Harry we will wait over there." Lily said. Sirius was already trying to pull her and James towards the Quidditch section.

Harry nodded. A little dragon flew around his head. Fascinated by the toy he followed the dragon on shaking legs, leaving the three wizards behind.

He followed the dragon up the stairs, which was rather difficult for Harry, who felt like all his limbs were made out of led. The dragon seemed to be patient though, he never flew faster than Harry walked.

As he finally managed to drag his wobbly legs up the stairs and the green dragon with red wings sat down, another boy bumped into Harry.

Harry lost his balance and if he hadn't managed to grab the railing in time, he would have fallen down the stairs. "Watch where you are going." The boy yelled at him brushing his very fine clothes like he had just touched something disgusting. The blond boy might have been Harry's age. After theatrically getting his clothes in order he glanced at Harry.

"Who are you?" The boy demanded to know and somehow Harry got reminded of Dudley.

"Harry." Harry answered shyly.

"Harry, who?" The boy wanted to know further. "You are not in Hogwarts, yet, I've never seen you there. I'm in my second year and in Slytherin. Everybody knows me. I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Eh…" Harry started. Why was everybody asking him about Hogwarts? Harry was just a boy who happened to do some magical stuff. That didn't mean that he would get accepted at Hogwarts immediately, right? "I don't think I'm going to Hogwarts."

"Durmstrang then?" The boy's voice suddenly sounded pleased. "My father was considering sending me there, but it's a family tradition to go to the Slytherin house."

"What's Durmstrang?" Harry asked. The other boy scoffed, arrogance was back in his voice.

"A magical school. Just like Hogwarts, but in east-Europe. Hogwarts is the oldest school though."

"Oh, I don't think I'm going to a magical school." Harry explained earning a suspicious look of the other boy.

"Are you a squib then?" The boy deducted.

"A squib?" Harry wondered. James and Lily had mentioned squibs in their conversation earlier. But Harry hadn't asked what it was. Most of the time when the three wizards talk to each other, Harry didn't understand a lot and Harry refrained from questioning too many things.

"You know nothing, don't you?" Draco commented condescendingly. "A squib is somebody, who doesn't have any magical talents."

Harry frowned. "Aren't non-magical people called Muggles?"

"Well, a squib is basically a Muggle. Only that a squib is born into a wizarding family. A shame really. I blame all the Mud bloods." Draco explained further.

"Oh. Then I'm not a squib. I'm a wizard, I think." Harry answered the other boy. Sirius had said that he was a wizard, right?

"Really? How old are you, if you don't go to any school for magic yet?" The boy raised a brow and a patronizing grin plastered his face.

"Twelve." Harry answered and bit his lip to prevent him from adding 'I think at least'. This boy looked already like he wanted to bully Harry and he didn't even know that Harry was an orphan or that he had lived on the streets.

"Maybe your parents didn't have the heart to tell you, that you are a squib." Malfoy suggested. "Have you done accidental magic yet?"

"Yes." Harry answered. "Just today actually."

"Oh, what have you done?" Draco wanted to know his curiosity raised.

"I broke a glass in a restaurant." Harry shrugged. As far as he could remember, glass always broke around him. At some point Petunia just bought some nicely designed plastic glasses and plates. Enraged Vernon had refused to eat out of them, but he finally gave in, after Harry had destroyed the whole kitchen for the third time. Everyday though he would remind Harry, that all of this was his fault. The bad thing about plastic plates were also, that Dudley could then throw them after Harry.

"That's not very impressive." Draco noted. "Maybe you are just a very weak wizard and that's why you don't get to go to Hogwarts."

"Maybe." Harry shrugged his shoulders. Harry thought the same, but they also suspected him to be a Death Eater. He refrained of explaining that to Draco though.

"You don't have a wand I suppose?" Draco asked raising his own wand for Harry to see.

"No."

"Have you tried a toy wand yet? They sell them here, and if you really are a wizard, then you should be able to use them. You could use them to practise your magic until your Hogwarts letter comes." Draco suggested.

"A toy wand?" Harry frowned. Why were there toy wands.

"You can perform almost all first year spells and charms with them and the ministry will not come after you for underage magic. They have invented them because of the war. Our education has become more important and some people in the ministry believe that we should start learning magic earlier than eleven." Draco informed the boy. "Toy wands are awesome if you don't have real wand yet. You can't use them if a Muggle is close though. Come with me."

Harry followed the blond boy. He didn't really want to try another wand, the cooking spoon had ended in a disaster. Harry glanced to the dragon toy he had followed. He wanted to play with it and not try out a stupid wand, but the blond boy was determined. The dragon spat some fire and flew away as the boys left. Draco was dragging Harry through the store. Harry saw James watching them with a distrustful glare.

Draco and Harry stopped in front of a shelf with various wands wrapped in brightly coloured plastic boxes. A shop assistant was standing in front of the wands. It was obvious that one couldn't just pick out one for themselves.

"He wants to try out a toy wand." Draco explained pointing at Harry.

"Oh? How old are you, honey? You should get your own wand soon, am I right?"

"I'm twelve." Harry answered.

"And you don't have a wand yet?" The woman asked doubtfully.

"I think he is almost a squib." Draco clarified. "I wanted to test what he can do with a toy wand."

"Toy wands are for children up to the age of eleven. We don't produce them for older children since you all have your real wands by that time. If you use toy wands which are not age appropriate they will break down or even burn."

Draco nodded. "I destroyed two toy wands already. Dad says it's normal. If he breaks it, I will pay for it. But I don't think he will."

"Alright. We can try it. There you go, honey. Test any charm you know on it. It has to be an easy one though." She took out a toy wand and gave it to Harry. Most of the toy wands were brightly coloured and glittered a bit. This one had a bit more modest design out of bright wood, probably for older children who preferred something less childish. It almost looked like a real wand. Only a little owl burned into the wooden handle gave away that it was a wand made for children.

"Oh, I hope you didn't hurt your wand hand?" The sales woman said as she saw Harry's bandaged hand.

"It's alright. I'm good with my left too." Harry answered and remembered how he had used James' wand. This wand felt a little bit different than the adult's wand though, less vibrant with magic. "This is safe though, right?" Harry asked. The memory of his severed fingers was rather fresh and by now pain was pulsing in his hand again.

"Of course, it is safe, honey. Even if you are already twelve, it shouldn't be a problem to use a wand for children up to eleven. Try an easy spell on it. Like Wingardium Leviosa." She took out a feather from under the counter and put it on the table. She swung her wand and almost sang "Wingardium Leviosa". The feather got lifted above the boy's head. Malfoy looked purposefully unimpressed. "You learn that in you first week in Hogwarts." He commented smugly. Harry didn't really understand why there were using wands for that. Wasn't it more practical to just lift things wandlessly? Even as a little child he had just lifted whatever he wanted with his magic back when he didn't even know about magic. Maybe a wand was like cutlery? One didn't really need a fork and knife to eat, after all the hand and teeth were good enough, but society expected one to use cutlery.

Unconfidently Harry took the toy wand and mimicked the movement of the woman.

"Wingardio…" He had started, but he had finished the movement to quickly apparently. Similar to the cooking spoon the toy wand exploded loudly in Harry's hand, although less violently. His hand got burned, but this time he kept all his fingers. Harry had not only lifted the feather, but the whole counter and even the sales woman. They flew up in an incredible speed and got thrown against the ceiling hard. The counter got smashed into a million pieces. There was nothing of the smoothness of the spell, when the woman had performed it. Pieces of wood and a broken chandelier were falling down on the boys. For some reason nothing hit Harry, but Draco got hit by a large wooden piece. Harry winced as he saw that a large bleeding gash on the boy's forehead.

Luckily, an adult wizard nearby had quickly saved the woman from falling on the floor by levitating her just before she crashed.

Suddenly they were surrounded by people, who asked various questions. Two or three wizards and witches were helping Draco and fuzzing over him. One of them healed the wound on the blond boy's head. Harry also recognized the shopkeeper amongst the crowd. He was now running towards his employee helping her own her feet. Harry flinched as a heavy hand caught his shoulder. He turned around and saw James, Lily and Sirius behind him.

"What happened?" James asked glancing at Harry. Harry gulped as recognized anger in the man's voice. That was it. Now they would drop the charade of being nice and go back to the way before. Well, at least Harry got pizza out of it.

"I just tried a toy wand. I didn't know that this would happen." Harry tried to apologize, but he already knew that it wouldn't help. Vernon never cared if Harry did something on purpose or not. James grip on his shoulder was hard. The man frowned as he picked up the toy wand. It was a burned piece of wood now. The cute owl was not visible anymore. There was crack in the middle, although the wand was still in one piece.

"Who gave him this? He is twelve, toy wands are for children up to eleven." James asked with a loud, accusing tone.

The saleswoman who had just recovered from the shock blushed as she approached them.

"I'm sorry, I did. I didn't expect anything bad to happen. Usually toy wands just break down, if the user applies too much magic. They rarely even burn. There must have been a defect in the toy wand. We are really sorry. Are you alright, child?" She asked looking at Harry with worry. Harry smiled weakly. She was a nice woman. Obviously, it was his fault, but she took the blame.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry about destroying the counter and hurting you. I didn't mean to." He answered looking down on his feet.

"No worries, honey. Nothing bad has happened." She said softly and swiftly cleaned up the mess with her wand.

"Yes, we are really sorry about this. This has never happened before." The shop keeper now continued apologetically. "The young Master Malfoy and Harry can each pick out a toy on the house. I will complain to the wand company about this."

Another man was now standing next to Draco. Without a doubt he was Malfoy's father. Draco looked like a young copy of the intimidating man.

"My son got hurt." The large blond man complained. He was the first person which really looked like a wizard to Harry. He was wearing a long, dark green robe and dark leather gloves, although it was quite warm in the shop. He was pale and somehow, he reminded Harry of an elf from a Muggle movie.

"Don't think you can get away from this by giving him a toy. He could have been killed. I will make sure that the Daily Prophet will hear about this defective wand."

As the mess had disappeared, the crowd cleared again, but a few people curiously listened to the conversation. Quite a few were also staring at Harry. Harry could feel that James also noticed the people looking at him and his grip on Harry's shoulder got almost painful.

"Malfoy," James began. "It was clearly an accident, and nothing bad has happened. They are children and things like this happen daily in Hogwarts. Are you going to ask the Daily Prophet to write about every little misdemeanour which happens there too?"

"Potter," Malfoy spat. "Of course, that little urchin is your son."

"He is not." James said and glanced at Harry. "He's a distant relative." He added stiffly.

"He doesn't have wand yet, dad." Draco interrupted exasperated. "But he is already twelve! And he is not going to school!"

Harry could feel that James was nervous. The grip on his shoulder would definitely leave a bruise for sure.

"Harry was unwell as a child. He will start school later.", James lied to the Malfoys. The older Malfoy took a long look on Harry and seemed to understand. He nodded shortly. That had been a smart lie by James, Harry thought. Harry had never really looked too healthy in his life, but right now he was pale and tired. It was easy to believe that he had been sick.

"Oh," Draco said apologetically. "I didn't know. I thought he was a squib or something."

"Mr. Malfoy," The shopkeeper started again. "Draco is going to be in his second-year next term. That means he can take a broom to school. I would like to give the newest and best broom to Draco and then we forget this story at once."

Mr. Malfoy smirked wickedly. "How about you donate brooms to the whole Slytherin team and then we can forget about this little accident."

The shopkeeper paled but nodded in defeat. "Alright, I agree."

"Harry, to make it fair you can also take a broom. If he is well enough, of course." The shopkeeper said quickly looking at James.

"It's fine. He can have a broom." Lily permitted. She put her hand on Harry's other shoulder, but it felt much more comforting than James' grip.

"But only, if it is a Nimbus 2001." Sirius declared grinning like a child.

"Of course, of course." The shopkeeper sighed, his eyes showing misery. "I will pack them up. You can pick them up at the front desk, before you leave. I will send the other brooms to the Slytherin team until the end of next week. I will have to order more. Draco, you can take yours home today too. I'm happy that we got to an agreement."

Both Malfoys seemed satisfied. "Let's floo home, Draco." The father said to his son. "Or have you found something else you want? I promised you a present. Mr. Potter and Mrs. Potter, I wish you a nice weekend. You too, Black."

"Yes, sure." James answered rudely. "Come on Harry, let's go too." He steered the boy away from the Malfoys.

"Wait, Harry hasn't picked out anything yet." Sirius said stopping his friend, when there were almost at the door of the shop. James raised an eyebrow at him.

"He almost destroyed the shop and he will get his own broom. I think that's quite a good deal. Caspian had been begging for broom for ages now, and he didn't get one. He is getting the most expensive thing in the whole shop." James argued. Harry had to agree with James. If he wouldn't get punished at all for what had happened, this must be his luckiest day. But of course, Vernon always only started to show his true anger, when they were back home. Why should James be any better?

"Are you now concerned that Harry is getting spoiled?" Protectively Sirius pulled Harry away from James and hold him in something that resembled a hug. "I'm buying him a toy, I don't care what you think. This was an accident."

"I agree with Sirius, James. It will be while until Harry will be even able to ride a broom. And we don't know if he will even enjoy it. So, let him get a toy." Lily said softly.

"Alright, alright." James gave in, "Do you know what you want, Harry?"

"Eh… the flying dragon. If it's not too expensive." Harry answered quickly. He hadn't actually looked at that many toys, but the dragon seemed exiting. And he didn't dare to ask for more time to look around.

"No, it's fine. Go get one and then we leave."

Slowly Harry walked to the shelf which had the dragons in little boxes that resembled cages. The dragons weren't alive yet and Harry guessed that one had to turn them on so that they behaved like living things. As Harry wanted to take a box, he winced. His left hand hurt painfully from the burns, which had been caused by the toy wand. And the only finger he could move on his right hand was his thumb, but other than that, the hand was wrapped tightly in a very thick bandage. Desperately he tried to think how he can carry something when both his hands were hurt. He could of course levitate one box out and carry it with magic. He took a look around. Nobody was doing magic without wands. Harry already had a lot of attention on him and James didn't seem to like that. With a sigh he gave up. He returned to the adults, who were waiting for him, empty handed.

"I don't want a toy." Harry declared.

"Why?" Sirius wondered. Harry just shrugged his shoulders.

"You can have a few more minutes to find something, if you like." James offered to Harry's surprise, although his voice still sounded annoyed.

"Yes, honey, do you want me to look with you?" Lily proposed. Her voice was the exact opposite of her husband's. She was a patient, well-tempered woman.

"No, I'm fine. Let's go." Harry urged.

"What's the problem now?" James demanded to know now.

"Eh… it's just." Harry didn't know if the truth would make them angrier or if they would just let it go.

"Yes?" James wanted to know unnerved.

"I kind of hurt my other hand too with the toy wand and I don't want to carry anything. It hurts. I could carry it with magic, but I don't know if that is weird." Harry mumbled quickly.

James anger didn't seem to vanish. He pursed his lips to a thin line.

"Show me your hand." He ordered.

Hesitantly he showed it to the man. He could hear Sirius wince and Lily gasp, while James stared at him his face unreadable.

"Oh, Harry. Next time tell us, if you are hurt." Lily said caressing his hair. James took his wand out. Before Harry could pull his hand away, James caught his wrist in a tight grasp. He tipped the hand once with the wand and the reddened burned skin got pale again. It tickled a bit but suddenly the pain was gone.

"Better?" James asked smiling now.

Harry nodded dumbfounded. He definitely needed to learn those healing spells. They would be quite handy with all the things that are happening to Harry all the time.

"Okay, now let's get you your dragon and then floo back to Hogwarts."

* * *

 **Okay, this was an exceptionally long chanpter. Usually I would split it in two, but it's not even different scenes, so splitting it up didn't make a lot of sense. I hope you liked it! Next update probably tomorrow.**


	16. Dudley, The Frog

**I hope you all had a nice Christmas. Here is another chapter, later then promised, but still quite soon after the other. Enjoy!**

* * *

They had brought the boy back to the hospital wing, where an angry school matron was waiting for them. She had scolded the adults for being so careless and not bringing the boy back on time. James felt pretty bad after she had explained that the boys pain medication had worn off hours ago and that the little one must have been suffering. Harry was very exhausted when they had finally reached the hospital wing. He fell asleep in matter of seconds after lying down. Lily changed him back into the pyjama with the boy already deep asleep. She had tried to take dragon toy away from him to put it beside the bed, but Harry was clutching it tightly a slight smile on his face.

"What are we going to do with him?" James asked as the two of them were alone in Lily's office. Sirius would stay the night in the hospital wing with Harry.

"What do you mean?" Lily wondered glaring at her husband suspiciously.

"Well, he might be a real child, but he is clearly highly talented."

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "I don't see how that is a bad thing."

"It's not… It's just… Have you seen all the looks he got in the shop? The toy wand wasn't defect, the child just has enormous amount of powerful magic, more than most adults I would guess."

Lily grimaced. "He will be a powerful wizard one day then. Doesn't mean that he will be an evil one. I don't see your point."

"Lily, he has a target over his head. If Voldemort learns about him… You are a teacher at Hogwarts, I don't have to tell you that what Harry can do is abnormal for any child his age. We all know Malfoy is a Death Eater, he might have already informed Voldemort about the child."

"Do you really think, that Malfoy will bother Voldemort with telling him about an exploding toy wand? Don't be ludicrous. Malfoy doesn't have death wish as far as I know." Lily argued.

James sighed. His wife made sense to some part.

"He has to learn to control his magic soon though. And he has to know that he should keep some things a secret. Harry uses wandless magic like it is nothing. Do you remember what he said today ' _I could carry it with magic, but I don't know if it is weird._ ' Yes, it is bloody weird. I can't carry things around without my wand. Wordlessly, yes. Wandlessly, hell no. I can maybe steer my coffee spoon in my cup, but not carry around a box."

"He had a lot of practice. All his life he had to rely on magic." Lily explained.

"Lily, he is an Animagus since he is seven. He might become more powerful than Voldemort or Dumbledore. And don't forget that apparently Dumbledore knew about him. Remember the memory where the boy's aunt mentioned Dumbledore's letter. What was that all about?"

"He is also a little boy without a family to take care of him." Lily added concerned.

"Well, that's another problem. If he doesn't trust us enough to tell us about some burn blisters on his hand, he certainly will not ask for help, if some bloody Death Eater approaches him."

"James, all we need to do is stay patient. We can't make the boy forget all the bad memories, he has. We can't reverse his feelings towards adults in two days. He needs time."

"Time he might not have. He is twelve already. He should start his second year of Hogwarts."

"I'm sure Harry is a quick learner."

"And who will teach him? We can hardly send him to Hogwarts." James shouted angrily. "He will probably blow up the whole castle."

"I'm free one day a week and your and Sirius schedule is quiet flexible. We can teach him."

"That's you plan, home school him?" James questioned doubtfully.

"Well, home school him until he has some control over his magic. Then we can send him to Hogwarts."

James sank into the couch he was sitting on and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's take the boy home, as soon as Poppy clears him. What are we going to tell the order?"

"Nothing. We proofed that he is indeed a child and not a Death Eater. They don't need know more. We will tell them, that we decided to adopt him." Lily decided.

James' eyes widened. "Adopt him? Don't you think you are taking it too far?"

"He needs a guardian. If we don't take him, somebody else will. And probably somebody who doesn't have the best intentions."

"Yes, I agree that he needs protection for now, but adoption means that he will part of our family for the rest of his life." James argued.

Lily just smiled sadly and took her husband's hand.

"I wouldn't mind having him around for the rest of my life." She countered.

"But we don't even know him. He will be Caspian and Phemie's brother."

"I'm sure Harry will be a great brother." Lily said, getting a bit annoyed by her husband's reluctances.

"He won't, Lily. I know you want to help him Lily but taking him in indefinitely… that's asking a lot from Caspian and Phemie. Harry will need a lot from our attention, attention that Caspian and Phemie won't get." James said back.

Lily pursed her lips sourly. "I hope that my children are kind enough to share."

James sighed. "What about our children's safety? Harry will sooner or later become a person of interest to Voldemort."

"So? You and I are both already targeted by Death Eaters. Never stopped us from working for the order now, did it?" Lily retorted.

"He would become the oldest Potter heir." James replied. "When we die, he will be the first heir."

"Really, that's you concern?" Lily asked doubtfully and looked at James exasperated. "The Potter heritage? Gold in some vault and an old, dusty house? Well, maybe the boy deserves better than you." Lily jumped off the couch enraged.

"Lily, I'm sorry." James pleaded now. "You can't just throw something like adoption against my head and expect me to just nod in agreement. Excuse me, but that's pretty big thing."

Lily glared at her husband for a few more minutes angrily, then her face softened again

"I'm sorry. You are right. It's just, it hurts a lot to look at the boy." Lily explained with tears in her eyes. "Life can be so unfair. I don't understand how those horrible things could have happened to a child. And it makes me feel awfully guilty, if Dumbledore was somehow involved. If the order let that happen to a child, are we than even better than Death Eaters?"

James stood up now to and embraced his wife in a tight hug. "I feel the same. We will try to make it up to the boy. We will start by teaching him magic." James said in a soft voice.

"And by giving him a home." Lily added.

"And by giving him a home." James agreed, although less certain than his wife.

* * *

To Harry's surprise they didn't return to Sirius' house, when Poppy finally let him go. Instead they went to James' and Lily's home. It was a large manor too, maybe twice as big as the Dursley's house had been. But it was much friendlier then Sirius' house. While Sirius' house was dark and dusty and full of old furniture, which looked like it belonged to a medieval castle, the Potter's house seemed more modern and brighter. There was old furniture too, but with a tasteful mix of modern furniture's. On contrast to Sirius they even had electricity, and Lily had quickly explained Harry that she liked electrical light much better than all those magical lights or candles. Also, it was child friendlier as it was easy to turn on an electrical light for a child, but it was not so easy to activate magical light bulbs or handle candles.

They gave a guest room to Harry, which was right between the master's bedroom and the room that Sirius got temporarily.

Caspian and Lily had already left for Hogwarts, while Phemie was running around the house and asking Harry to play with him. Sirius and James allowed Harry to play with the girl, but James was nervously checking on them every half an hour, if he wouldn't even stay in the same room working on some papers. James' mistrust didn't bother Harry too much though. Harry did almost kill the saleswoman and had hurt Draco. James was a father, who worried about his daughter. If James was a little bit more like Vernon, he would probably not even let Harry be in the same room as Phemie. Other than that it was easy to play with Phemie. She loved Harry's new dragon and soon it felt more like it was her toy than Harry's. Harry didn't mind though. Phemie let him play with anything else and even snuck out games from Caspian's room. The next few days were rather peaceful. They ate three meals a day, while Sirius and James talked about trivial things or about some auror things. Harry still had to find out what an auror was, since both men worked as aurors. They kept shovelling food on Harry's plate, but that would be the last thing Harry would complain about.

They left Harry pretty much alone for the most time until the third day. Phemie and Harry were playing with her magical pencils, when James entered the room after a short knock.

"Phemie, could you please go and play in your own room." James suddenly ordered with a firm voice. Sirius was standing behind him. "I need to change Harry's bandage and check the wound." James was holding a first aid kid. Harry heart dropped to his stomach. He didn't want Phemie to leave. He didn't want to be alone with the men, although he had to admit that Sirius wasn't really scary. The magical pencil, which Harry was holding suddenly started vibrating. Coloured light radiated from the pencil in all directions until it exploded with a dull "Puff". The colours of the pencil faded into a grey brownish tone. Accidental magic again. Harry felt bad when he saw Phemie's disappointed face.

"My pencil!", Phemie cried and took it out of Harry's hand. She tested it, but it had stopped working. She had drawn a quick circle on a paper. But the grey circle just shimmered shortly. Nothing came flying out of the paper.

James sighed. "Harry, there is no reason to be nervous. And Phemie you have enough magical pencils to last you until you are old enough to go to Hogwarts. You can spare one. Now, if you would please give us some time with Harry."

"No, I'm not giving you time with Harry." The girl said determined. "I will not leave Harry's side. You can change the bandage while I'm here."

"Euphemia Potter, please go to your room. You can continue playing with Harry, when we are done."

The little girl grabbed Harry's good hand tightly. "No." She defied her father.

"Phemie, you can go." Harry asked her quietly. But she shook her head.

"You will go now." James commanded. "If not, you can stay in your room the whole day tomorrow too."

Again, the girl shook her head. "I don't care. I'm staying"

James sighed in defeat. "Alright, Phemie. What is this about? Why don't you want to leave?"

"Because, Harry doesn't want me to go." Phemie explained. Harry winced. Now she was dragging him into her defiance? He really didn't want to upset James.

"He has just told you that you can go." James argued.

"Really, Phemie. We will not eat Harry, while you are gone. We have to change the bandage and talk to him about his education. That's all." Sirius tried to calm the girl.

"But he is scared of you!" Phemie said now desperate.

The men looked at each other. Harry couldn't say if they were angry, but they weren't happy either. Why would Phemie tell something like that to the grown-ups? Harry had told her that in secret.

"How do you know that?" James wanted to know.

"Because he told me so! I told him there is no reason to be scared, but he doesn't believe me!"

James looked at Harry.

"Alright. You can stay, Phemie. But nothing we tell Harry can leave the room. You will not even tell Caspian, what we talked about to Harry. Do you understand?" James clarified. Phemie grinned in victory.

"Yes. I understand." Phemie agreed.

"No, I don't think you understand. If you tell anybody what we will tell Harry, Harry might be in a lot of danger."

Phemie's face got darker and the grip on Harry's wrist tighter. Harry felt weirdly unaffected by the information that he might be in danger. When had he ever been really safe?

Phemie nodded determined. "My lips are sealed."

"Alright, let's have a look on that hand. Harry come sit down on your bed." James said now in calmer tone. He himself sat down on a chair next to the bed.

Quickly, James took a look on the wound and disinfected with an orange fluid. He dressed it as tightly as Poppy had done it before.

"It looks good Harry." He said finally. "It's healing better than I would have thought." He seemed happy about the wound. Phemie seemed to think differently about that. She was still holding Harry's hand fighting with tears. Apparently, she didn't think that the wound looked good. Sirius was stroking her hair consolingly.

"Now, to the other part." James began. "Can you tell us about what you can do with magic already?"

Harry was a bit surprised by the question. That was an easy one. But probably a very long one.

"On purpose or accidental?" Harry wanted to know further. James and Sirius frowned. Phemie looked at him with wide eyes.

"Let's start with on purpose."

"Eh… I can lift things. With magic I mean. Like books or plates or glasses. I once lifted a couch because Petunia wanted me to clean under it. But lifting heavy things is really exhausting."

"When was that? I thought you left your relatives, when you were seven?" Sirius now asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Yes, I think I was six or something, when I did it the last time."

"But you don't have a wand! How can you do magic without a wand!" Phemie shouted.

"Harry is very talented Phemie." James explained to his daughter. "He can already do wandless magic. But you shouldn't tell that to anybody." The little girl's eyes were big, and she looked at the boy sitting next to her. She just nodded quietly for once.

Harry was talented? Really? But he destroyed everything around him. Even Phemie's pencils. He surely was a bad wizard.

"So what else can you do Harry? Lifting things. Anything else?" James asked further.

"I can turn into a dog. But you know that. I took me long time until I managed to do it on purpose though. Almost three months after it happened accidental." Harry recalled. James nodded slowly his face was still very serious.

"I can make water warm. Or cool. Petunia turned the heating of the water off, every time I was allowed to shower. But it didn't matter. I made it warm on my own. She didn't know." Harry told grinning proudly. James folded his arms in front of him uncomfortably.

"Why didn't she let you shower warm?" Phemie wanted to know.

"Because it costs money." Harry explained to her.

"Oh, your family was so poor then?"

"I don't think so." Harry answered uncertainly. "They just didn't like me."

"But that's so mean!" Phemie complained.

"Phemie, we are not here to talk about Harry's family. Harry what else can you do with magic on purpose?" James interrupted his daughter unnerved.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "A lot. I can make things explode. I can also repair things. I figured out how to clean dirty water so that it's drinkable, which is very handy, if you sleep outside. Oh, I can open locks and make myself run faster. It almost feels like flying. Eh, I can kind of apparate, but not so precise like you guys. I can wish myself away, but I never end up, where I really wanted to be." Harry concluded. Sirius stared at him, while James rubbed his temples tiredly.

"You are lying!" Phemie declared. "That's impossible! You can't do all of that. You are not a grown up yet."

Before Harry could defend himself, James assured his daughter that Harry wasn't lying. "I promise you Phemie, that what Harry says is the truth." Phemie's mouth dropped open.

"What about accidental magic, Harry?" Sirius questioned.

"And maybe leave out the reasons why you did accidental magic." James glanced at his daughter and Harry understood that James didn't want Phemie to hear about all the violent things that had happened in Harry's life. Harry knew that most children reacted badly to violence.

"I managed to breath under water." Harry started, knowing that James would remember the memory that he had seen in his mind.

"I put a lot of things on fire and glass always breaks around me. Once I made my hair grow. And basically, everything that I can do on purpose happened by accident first."

"Why did you have to breath under water?" Phemie asked. "Did you fall into a lake?"

Harry grimaced and pleadingly looked at James.

"We are not asking for reasons, Phemie. Can you remember anything else, Harry?"

Then Harry paled a bit. "I turned Dudley into a frog once." Harry admitted. It hadn't been his proudest act.

Sirius laughed at that. "I'm sure he deserved it!"

James growled at his friend. "How did he turn back?"

"I turned him back. But it almost took me four hours to figure out how to do that. Luckily, he didn't remember anything. I'm sure my uncle would have killed me. Petunia had already called the police and everything. Dudley was only five, so of course she was worried, when he had suddenly disappeared. They found him sleeping under his bed." Sirius and James shared a look.

"That's awful." Phemie declared. "What did he do to make you so angry, that you would turn him accidentally into a frog!"

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I was really hungry, and he would come to me and eat a whole bar of chocolate in front of me."

Phemie let go of Harry's hand. "You are mean! Just because he ate chocolate, you turned him into a frog?"

Harry blushed. "I was five too and it was accidental." Harry defended himself.

"But you must have been really angry! Because of chocolate? Caspian steals sweets from me all the time and I would never do something like that!" Phemie scolded him accusingly.

Harry turned red in embarrassment. "My aunt had locked me up in my cupboard for three days and didn't give me any food. I was starving!" He explained himself further.

Phemie jumped off the bed. "You are lying!"

"I'm not." Harry looked at James hoping that the man would tell his daughter again that Harry was telling the truth. But the man didn't say anything.

If the man wouldn't explain, Harry had to. "Not everybody has parents like you do, Phemie." Harry said grudgingly to the girl. "My relatives didn't like me because they thought I was a freak. I was doing magic all this time and they didn't know what it was. They didn't understand, and they were scared of me and that's why…" Harry couldn't stop his tears anymore. "That's why they were mean to me and beat me and wouldn't give enough food or lock me up or just forget about me."

Phemie stepped away from Harry scared. "You are lying. You are just a boy, why would they be scared of you! They wouldn't beat you for accidental magic!"

"That's enough, Phemie." James raised his voice at his daughter.

Harry shoulder slumped. Why was he even explaining it to this little girl? She wouldn't understand. She lived in this nice family, which loved her. Why did she need to know that there were children like Harry?

"No, it isn't! Harry, tell me you are lying!" Phemie insisted.

"I'm lying." Harry finally answered her deciding that the little girl didn't have to know about how cruel adults could be. "I turned Dudley into a frog because he still had his chocolate and I had eaten mine already." Harry said, and surprised himself how smoothly he had told that story. Well, except for the tears which were rolling down his cheeks now.

Phemie calmed a bit, but there was something in her eyes, that didn't seem to buy Harry's story.

This time Sirius stood up anger plastering his face. "You are not going to do that, Harry. I'm not saying that you have to tell anybody what had happened in that household, but you are also not going to lie about it either."

For a second James seemingly wanted to stop his friend, but James froze as he saw tears in Harry's eyes.

"Phemie," Sirius declared. "Everything Harry said before was the truth. You are not a big girl yet, but please try to be one now. Not everybody is as lucky as you and Caspian are. Harry had a rough time and that's why we are going to help him. Do you understand?"

In shock the girl looked at her godfather.

"It's not the truth." The girl mumbled in denial.

"I promise you, it is." Sirius repeated patiently. Desperately the girl looked to her father, who nodded slowly confirming that he shared Sirius' opinion.

Suddenly a glass on Harry's night stand exploded. This time it wasn't Harry's magic, but the little girl's. She started to cry bitterly. Her little arms wrapped around Harry and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry." She said, burying her face into Harry's shirt. "I will protect you, Harry. I swear." She proclaimed now making Harry smile a bit. There were standing there for quite some time before she let go of him.

She turned to the two men now. Protectively she was standing in front of Harry.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about or can Harry and I continue to play?" She demanded to know.

James smiled at his daughter's protectiveness. "No, there are some things we need to explain to Harry."

"Harry," Sirius began. "You can't tell anybody about what you have managed to do with magic so far."

Harry raised an eyebrow. The Dursleys had always forbidden him to talk about his freakishness, but why would wizards care? "Why?", he wondered.

"Because everything you can do is highly irregular." James explained further. "Harry, I'm not going to hide this from you, but this information cannot leave this room. You might very well be the most powerful wizard born in this century." James stopped briefly. "Including Voldemort. But we are in the middle of a war and you are in lot of danger until you don't learn how to use that magic properly. Voldemort might try to get you to work for him, if learns about you. Or he might just try to kill you before you are a real threat. It is important that nobody knows, what you can do."

Harry was a baffled. Him? The most powerful wizard in a century? But he was so small and thin! He didn't even know how to read! He wasn't powerful. He had almost died so many times in his life that Harry couldn't even count anymore.

Harry just started laughing hysterically. "I'm not the most powerful wizard." He replied. "I think I lost my powers, I tried to turn into a dog the other day and nothing happened."

James grimaced unhappily and stood up. He put a hand on Harry's forehead like he wanted to check if Harry had fever. James ignored that Harry's flinch and also Phemie's protest not to touch Harry.

He wasn't looking for fever though Harry suspected. A little bit of magic was tickling Harry's forehead.

"Your magical reserves are very low, kiddo." James explained finally letting go of Harry's forehead. "Poppy should have checked it. Your magic needs to recover a bit. With all the accidental magic that you do, my guess is it will take quite some time until your reserves have filled up again."

Sirius was also putting his hand on Harry's forehead now. The man had a worried look on his face.

"How did it get so low though?" The man wondered, also tickling Harry's forehead with magic.

"Have you been present the past few days? The boy has blasted through walls, made a cooking spoon explode and attacked me with glass and books. And who knows how much of his magic got eaten by the arci-bracelets. Oh, and all of that wandlessly." James answered with a grim smile.

"Yes, but still. His reserves are so slow like he did Merlin knows what." His hand was still pressing against Harry's forehead.

"Maybe I don't have so much magic as you think. That's why they are already low." Harry tried to reason, but the men ignored him.

"Have you done something exceptionally crazy the past few days or weeks?" Sirius urged to know, still not letting go of Harry.

"Eh, no." Harry tried to think hard.

"You must have felt off for some time now. You don't let your magical reserves get so low without feeling it. What did you do the day James had found you?" Sirius asked.

"I… some teenagers attacked me at night. That's how I got hurt. I didn't attack them with magic because they got me by surprise. They were already gone and had robbed me, before I realized what had happened. I … eh… I was cold and that's why turned into a dog." Harry explained quickly. "Because the dog has a fur, you know."

"Your Animagus is wolf, not a dog, but go on." Sirius said.

"That's it really. It's true that I felt a bit off since then. But I got stabbed! I think that's normal." Harry argued.

"But there was something weird though." Harry suddenly realized. "I…eh… wished for something. Normally, when I really, really wish for something my magic can help me. Once I made hundreds of cookies appear in my cupboard!" Harry recalled and regretted not having told them that story. It was so much nicer than the one where he turned Dudley into a frog. "But it didn't happen this time. My powers… eh… magic tried to help though. I apparated for a few seconds but appeared in the same ally again. Then you guys showed up."

"What did you wish for?" James asked curiously.

"I don't want to tell." Harry admitted.

"It might be important, Harry. Maybe your accidental magic did something and you didn't even realize it. That's why your reserves are so low." Sirius pointed out.

"I… eh…" Harry stuttered. He glanced at Phemie, who was holding his hand again. She looked at him encouragingly "I wished for a family." Harry confessed his voice low and raspy. "It's silly. I know. Maybe I should have wished for the wound to close. Wishing for a family couldn't have worked."

"But it did work Harry!" Phemie declared. "I will be your sister from now on. You have a family now."

Harry smiled sadly. It would be nice, if life would be so easy for once. He expected James to object, but the man just cleared his throat.

"Back to the topic." James said. "You understand that you are not to tell anybody about what you can do. Even if you don't believe that you are powerful yourself."

Harry nodded slowly. Who should he even talk to? It's not like there were many people around in this house. Unless they had finally decided to kick him out.

"And we need to start your education. You are already one year behind. You should have started Hogwarts last year."

Again, Harry nodded. That didn't sound like they were going to kick him out.

"You have a lot of magic, but it is quite uncontrolled and unprecise. You will have to start learning using a wand. You can only do so much without a wand."

He would get a wand? Harry's heart pumped faster, but this time because he was exited.

"But we will stick to theoretical work until your magical reserves have recovered a little bit at least." James concluded much to Harry's disappointment. Theoretical work didn't sound that exiting.

"What is theoretical work?" Harry wanted to know.

"Well, we will probably start with reading the first year's books." Sirius answered. "I hated everything theoretical too, but you have to fight your way through it. You have to catch up with your Hogwarts classmates."

Harry paled a bit at that. But he couldn't read! How was he supposed to catch up if he had to start by learning how to read? Could he tell the men that he couldn't read? He opened his mouth to protest and to inform the men about that he was a twelve-year old analphabet, but he closed it again. Embarrassment washed over him. They would be disappointment, wouldn't they? They thought that he was the most powerful wizard in a century. And Harry wouldn't even be able to read a good-night story to Phemie. He was not going to admit that.

He would have to figure out how to read on his own. Maybe he could teach himself?

James smiled at Harry. He brushed through the boy's hair with his finger affectionally. Again, ignoring the boy's slight flinch.

"Alright Harry, we will start tomorrow morning after breakfast. What do you want for dinner? Phemie chose yesterday and Sirius the day before. It's your turn."

"Phemie can choose again." Harry answered hastily.

"No, you choose Harry." Phemie ordered.

"I don't really know." Harry said desperately. "Peanut butter sandwiches, maybe?"

James chuckled. "Alright if that's what you want."

James and Sirius left the room. Harry felt desperate. What was he going to do tomorrow? But Phemie seemed desperate for some reason too. Again, she embraced Harry in a tight hug and started crying. They both sat down on their bed arm in arm. Phemie cried loudly, while Harry tears rolled down his cheek silently. They sat like this for a while, both not talking. Eventually both children fell asleep.

* * *

 **A long chapter again! I hope you liked it.**

 **I might update on Sunday. Thanks for all your reviews!**


	17. First Reading Book

A few hours later Sirius came to catch the kids for dinner. As he saw both children sleeping next to each other in a tight hug, he decided against waking them. He tugged them in and returned to James. Both men were a bit relieved to not having to have peanut butter sandwiches for dinner.

"Hey, mate." Sirius wondered. "Do you think the boy's accidental magic made you appear?"

"You've lost me. What?" James looked at Sirius confused.

"The most powerful wizard in a century -you said so yourself- wishes for a family and there you are. The man who exactly looks like him and is probably one of the only wizards, who has the connections and money to raise him and protect him in this crazy war."

James rolled his eyes. "It was just a coincidence. Why didn't you appear in the alley then? You are as good as a choice as I am."

"Well, no. I'm not a family for a little boy. I'm the irresponsible, eternal bachelor, who lives in a dusty house haunted by the Black family. You on the other hand are one of the best fathers a boy can wish for."

James frowned. "The boy likes you more than me."

Sirius smirked. "Caspian also likes me more than you."

"Only because you are spoiling him. Besides how would have his accidental magic accomplished that? Me appearing in the alley, where he got stabbed? Did he travel back in time and put me on the Imperius curse and made me get chocolate for Lily exactly at the right time?" James mocked his friend.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "Well maybe."

James scoffed. "Next thing, you start talking about alternative dimensions. You should really stop watching those Muggle shows, Lily keeps recommending you."

"What? Doctor Who is amazing. You should try it."

* * *

Next morning Harry woke up quite early. Phemie was still next to him, her breathing slow and calm. He would have to somehow avoid learning today. What if he just didn't do what they wanted him to do? Beat him up? But they wouldn't, would they? Would they throw him out? That was more likely. Harry snuggled with his soft, clean blanket. They had fed him and provided him shelter. Of course, they would be enraged, if Harry denied even doing so much as learning.

Nervously he stood up out of the bed without waking Phemie and changed his clothes. So what, if they threw him out? It is not like he wouldn't survive on his own. He had gotten used to being alone. He just had to hold out on the street until his magical reserves got good enough so that he could turn to a dog. Then he would just find a nice family. Maybe this time he would just choose one to stay longer with them.

He went down the stairs and smelled breakfast. James was making pan cakes and bacon. "Good morning, Harry. You are up early. You must be hungry, you skipped dinner. You and Phemie fell asleep and Sirius couldn't bring it over himself to wake you guys up. There you go, you can have peanut butter sandwiches or pancakes and bacon." James offered still busy saving one pancake which apparently got burned. "Sirius!" James suddenly shouted into the house. "Wake up! Phemie, breakfast!"

James put a hot pancake on Harry's plate. Well, if this might be the last day at the Potter's manor, Harry could also just enjoy it. Maybe they would throw him out after he refused learning, but at least he would have one last good breakfast. Harry dug in and started eating.

Sirius and Phemie slowly strolled into the kitchen minutes later. Phemie's hair was unbrushed and it almost looked like James' hair as messy as it was. Except for the colour of course.

Harry had felt full after the first pancake. But he forced himself to continue eating. Maybe this was his last breakfast, Harry decided. He had to made it count. James and Sirius exchanged worried glances at each other after Harry had eaten his third pancake and made his third peanut butter sandwich.

"How can you eat so much!" Phemie wondered. She had eaten half a pan cake but didn't seem to like it anymore. "You want the rest of my pancake, Harry?"

The little boy nodded and swallowed the pan cake in a few bites.

"Harry, slow down a bit." James said. "You will get sick."

But Harry ignored the man. Living on the street was rough. Who knew, when he would have the next chance to eat? Harry poured himself another glass of milk and gulped it down.

He had just taken another toast from a plastic bag, when James took it from him. Alright, that was their limit apparently. Almost four pan cakes and three peanut butter sandwiches. The Dursley's wouldn't even have given him one peanut butter sandwich. "That's enough, Harry. You will eventually puke if you eat even more. If you are still hungry in two hours, you can have a second breakfast. But for now, it has been enough."

James was probably right. Harry was that full that his stomach hurt. He had never puked because of overeating, but it didn't seem impossible to Harry anymore. He had to gulp a few times so that the sour taste of gastric acid disappeared in his mouth. He really was close to puking.

"Alright. Phemie, you have to play on your own now. Harry has to learn. This time Phemie didn't protest, but just accepted their fate.

Sirius and James cleaned up the table with magic and made some thick school books appear.

"We will start with Transfiguration. The practice is fun and I'm sure you will excel at that, Harry, but the theory is rather dull. How about you read the first chapter and then we talk about it?" James suggested. "Are you quick at reading or rather slow? How long will it take you?" The man asked glancing at a watch behind them.

Harry shrugged his shoulders, while James went through the chapter. "Alright, the first chapter has fifteen pages. Let's give you twenty minutes to read it, while Sirius and I finish a report for work." James decided.

"Fifteen pages in twenty minutes? Come on, prongs. He is twelve. Harry take all the time you need." Sirius corrected his friends request.

James just shrugged his shoulders. "Alright. Harry just tell us when you are done."

Harry nodded hesitantly and stared at the book in front of him. It had a few moving pictures, which were nice. They showed various object turning into other objects. Harry spent some time staring at the pictures and wondered what he would tell the adults. That he didn't like to read? He certainly wouldn't admit that he couldn't read. They would think he was stupid.

Harry kept looking at the book, turning a page sometimes, so that they would think he was reading. In reality he was just staring at the pages worrying about the next few days. Harry had no idea, where the Potter manor even was. He wondered, if the men would help him get to London after they would kick him out. Probably not.

An hour passed, before James and Sirius started looking at him more often.

"Are you done, Harry?" James asked impatiently.

Harry nodded slowly. He could just get over with it now. They would probably get angry at him. But afterwards Harry wouldn't have to worry anymore. Sirius grabbed the book grinningly and opened it.

"Well, what is the chapter about, kiddo?" Sirius demanded to know looking through the pages casually. "Ah, old memories. Transformation with McGonagall. Happy times." Sirius then reminisced.

"She gave you a month of detention in your first lesson." James reminded him.

"Well, you got three weeks. And those three weeks of detention together are the reason why we are friends. As I said good time, prongs."

James smiled. "I know. It was nice. So, Harry, what is the chapter about?"

"I don't know." Harry answered honestly.

James raised a brow. "You've spent the last hour reading it, right?"

"Yes."

"Then you can tell me what it is about. We will not be angry, if you got something wrong. You just started learning."

But Harry didn't respond. James sighed and poured himself another coffee.

"Come on, Harry. Just tell us something. Start small. What was the first example the author gives in the first paragraph?" Sirius narrowed down the question.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I don't want to."

"It's not about what you want, Harry. Every child needs an education. It's part of life. You want to have a good job one day, right? Then you have to learn things." James tried to reason with Harry.

Harry just blinked at him. A bit angrily James put the book in front of Harry again.

"You will not leave this table until you haven't summarized the first chapter." He also made a quill, ink and some paper appear in front of Harry. "And this time you will write it down."

* * *

One week had passed since they had started teaching Harry. Well, teaching was a total exaggeration. Harry was still stuck on the first Transfiguration chapter, refusing to read it. James and Sirius had tried everything. Sirius had played the good cop, who tried to motivate the boy with cookies, chocolate and kind words. James on the other hand was a bit harsher with the boy. He tried to punish the boy by denying him a dessert after dinner, but the boy didn't seem to mind at all. He had forbidden him to play with Phemie a few days ago. While Harry didn't seem to like that, it wasn't reason enough to make him listen to the adults. James tried to scare him into learning, telling him if he wouldn't study, that he would never become even a decent wizard and that eventually the Death Eaters would get him. That only resulted into making Harry cry and thus Sirius got angry at James. James and Sirius begun fighting about how to handle Harry. Sirius thought that James was to strict with him and that he should show more patience. Some part of James agreed. James hadn't failed to notice that Harry flinched every time somebody raised his voice or when somebody touched him. And if Harry happened to be alone in a room with James, some glass would break due to accidental magic for sure if the man moved just a bit too hastily or too close to Harry. Yelling at the boy certainly wouldn't built trust.

Another part of James was close to panicking. The boy had a target over his head. The only way the boy could keep himself save was to learn to control his powerful magic quickly.

After four days James started to teach Phemie too. Not magic of course, that's something James would leave to the famous school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but she needed to practise reading and writing. She was six after all and had to start to prepare herself for Hogwarts. James had hoped that if Harry saw another child learning next to him, that he would finally listen to the adults and start his education. But instead of doing his own work, Harry was looking curiously at Phemie's school work, while Phemie proudly showed him her first writing and reading skills.

The same evening Phemie's first reading book had disappeared. Phemie started crying bitterly, but even after two hours of looking everywhere, they couldn't find. The next day James had to make up some exercises for Phemie on his own. That day he also had to drag Harry out of his bed. For the first time boy had slept in. Obviously, the boy hadn't slept well, he had almost fallen asleep during breakfast twice. Now James was sitting with the children on the table, teaching Phemie numbers. Harry was still just staring at the pages of his Transfiguration book, this time not even Phemie's works seemed to interest him. James noticed Harry's eyes closing. The boy was fighting against sleep again.

"Hey!" James shouted at the kid as he had dozed off over the Transfiguration book.

Startled the child jumped up. A bit confused he looked around and then at James. At once the whole table caught fire. Damn that kid and its accidental magic. Phemie screamed and ran behind James back, hiding from the flames. James put the fire out swiftly with his wand. Concerned he turned to his daughter, who was crying loudly now.

"Phemie, are you hurt?" He asked softly. The little girl nodded and showed him her right arm. She got burned. Even her shirt had a black hole on the right sleeve. The skin underneath was dark red and if untreated it would certainly develop burn blisters soon. He gently took his daughter's arm and tipped the wound with his wand once making little Phemie wince. As an auror James was quiet a skilled healer. Besides combat fighting and Legilimency, healing had been James one of his best subjects. While he wasn't officially a certificated healer he had done quiet a lot of courses in healing additionally to the obligatory ones during the auror training. Healing normal burns was for James now as easy as lightening his wand with a Lumos charm. However, the burn on his daughter's arm had been caused by a magical fire, which he couldn't heal at once. Phemie was still crying loudly. Realizing that magic wouldn't help James picked Phemie quickly up, turned on the cold water of the kitchen sink and pulled Phemie's arm under it. After half a minute of cooling Phemie's sobs got quieter.

"Can't you heal it, daddy. It hurts." Phemie muttered. James bit his lip. He always took it hard, if one of his children was in pain or was sick. The burn would hurt for quite a while. In a way it had also been James' fault. He knew better than to startle the boy. He quickly glanced over his shoulder to where the boy was standing. He had been following them quietly and was now observing the scene between father and daughter.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I can't. It had been caused by a magical fire and it will have to heal the Muggle way. Although some creams I have may help. And of course, I can give you something against the pain." James explained gently.

"How long does healing the Muggle way take? A few hours?" The little girl wondered and almost made James chuckle.

"I'm sorry, Phemie. Without magic a burn wound needs over a week."

"A week? That long?" Phemie sulked looking desperate at the red skin.

"It might be quicker with some potions though, don't worry. Come one, let me put something on the wound and dress it up."

Half an hour later James walked back to the dining room to the burned table. Phemie was in bed now after James had given her some strong potion against pain. The auror sighed as he saw the damage to the dining room. The table surface was completely black and the children's schoolwork and some of James' paperwork had been burned in the fire. It would be difficult to explain to the ministry how that had happened. He could always tell that it had been Phemie's accidental magic since he couldn't tell anybody about Harry yet. But saying 'My child burned my paper work' was as believable as an excuse as telling his supervisor that his dog ate his homework. He glanced at Harry who was still standing in the room with wide eyes.

"Go to your room, Harry." James ordered and tried to keep his anger out of his voice. The boy feared probably that James would punish him cruelly like his aunt and uncle most likely would have done. The boy nodded quickly and almost ran up the stairs into his room.

* * *

Harry had burned Phemie! How could he let that happen? Why did his stupid magic never do what he wanted? Phemie was his only friend and now she would probably also fear him or think that he was a freak.

Harry had tried his best not to start crying in front of James, but as soon as he reached his room, he slumped down against his door and started sobbing.

If hadn't fallen asleep during the lesson, James wouldn't have tried to wake him and then he wouldn't have gotten startled. And Harry had only fallen asleep because he had tried to learn reading the whole night. He had borrowed Phemie's first reading book. Harry hadn't asked her and he felt quite bad for just taking it. He had studied it the whole night. Harry figured out the names of most letters now, but he didn't even manage to read a single word.

They would definitely throw him out now, Harry realized wearily. Actually, he would be lucky if they only threw him out and didn't do worse. Maybe they would beat him up or hex him before kicking him out. Harry cried more heavily. But he liked it here! He liked Phemie, and the warm bed, and talking to Sirius. The food was great and for the first time in his life he felt like he was actually gaining weight.

With his last energy Harry dragged himself up and into his bed. He curled up under his heavy blanket, his hand throbbing in pain. He had overslept this morning and James had forgotten to give him the potion against pain that he usually got.

* * *

"Harry, wake up." A firm voice ordered. "I forgot to give you your pain medication in the morning and I have to redress your hand."

James was standing in the door frame and Harry was glad that he had woken him before coming into the room. Otherwise he probably would have startled Harry again and he couldn't say what his accidental magic would do next. Harry sat up. Quickly he rubbed his hand over his eyes, realizing that his cheeks were still wet from crying.

James slowly walked into the room and sat down on a chair next to Harry's bed.

"Here drink this." James said and held out a vial to Harry. It looked different than in the morning.

Suspiciously Harry looked at the vial and then at James. "It looks different than usual." He commented. Did James try to poison him? Was that his punishment? Once after Harry had accidentally spilled a whole salt shaker into the dinner, Vernon had made him eat the whole thing. It didn't matter that the accident had only happened because Dudley thought it would be funny to prank his cousin and manipulate the salt shaker. After eating the whole pot of pasta with way too much salt, Harry had puked three times. He had felt sick the next few days. Honestly it was one of the meanest punishments Harry had ever gotten.

Would James try to poison him too? Poisoning somebody did sound like something a wizard would do.

"Look, Harry, it's not poisoned." James asserted like he had been reading Harry's mind - again. "In the morning it's mixed with a little bit with a pepper-up potion which wakes you up. Almost like coffee, but also for children." James explained patiently. "This looks different because I mixed it with some calming draught since it's already afternoon and you look like you could need it."

Harry was still unconvinced. "I don't need any potion for my pain. My hand doesn't hurt anymore."

With a sigh James gave up. "Alright. I will leave the vial here, if you change your mind. Now let me see you hand."

Hesitantly Harry stretched his damaged hand in the direction of the man. He hadn't insisted on Harry taking the potion? Why? Was this some twisted reversed logic behind the man's behaviour? Was he hoping that Harry would give in and take the potential poison, if the man didn't insist on it?

They didn't talk like usually while James dressed the wound again. James worked quickly but thoroughly.

"We skipped lunch today. I will bring you up some sandwiches." James declared and stood up of the chair. "We have another version of the Transfiguration book, you've burned yours, but I honestly don't see the point anymore, you have won. If you don't want to learn, fine, stay stupid and defenceless."

"I'm sorry." Harry mumbled.

"You know, Harry," James was raising his voice "I know you didn't have it easy so far. But you are also not making it easy for the people around you. You have some pretty scary uncontrolled magic and I can somewhat understand your relatives." Harry's heart started pumping harder. He could understand his relatives? Of course, he could. Harry was a freak after all. But it still hurt to hear it out loud. "You have to learn to control it. Today you hurt Phemie and even worse things could happen. Except if you start learning. I don't understand why you are refusing it. We asked you to read the first chapter of Introduction to Transfiguration, not to take an Advanced Arithmancy O.W.L. exam."

Harry didn't know what to answer or if he was supposed to answer. He just looked down on his lap in shame. James was right. One day he might really hurt someone.

"Now, out of bed. It's early afternoon and if you sleep the whole day, you won't be able to sleep at night."

Harry nodded tiredly. He would have to stay awake for a few more hours and hopefully James would let him go to sleep early. Clumsily Harry fought to wrinkle his legs out of his large blanket. It took him a few seconds to figure it out, but the second his legs were out of the bed, something fell out of his bed onto the floor. Phemie's first reading book Harry realized. He had completely forgotten that he had hidden it under his blanket. In panic he looked from the book and then to James. Harry wanted to pick it up, but James was quicker. He was now towering over Harry, who was still half wrapped in his blanket.

"Phemie's reading book." James said with a frown studying the cover of the book. "We've looked everywhere for it."

He glanced down at Harry. "Why was it in your bed?"

"I.. uh.."

"Did you steal it from Phemie? She had been crying yesterday because she thought she had lost it." James said anger rising in his voice.

"I … I didn't steal it. I borrowed it." Harry defended himself. He wouldn't have kept it. He just had to figure out how this reading thing worked and then he would have returned it.

"Harry, if you don't ask for permission before taking things it's considered stealing. You made her very sad and you know that she likes you. You have to tell her that you are sorry." James scolded him.

"I'm sorry." Harry had successfully managed to upset the man even more. Harry was just good at making people angry.

"Why would you take it anyway?" James wondered now browsing through the book.

Harry decided not to answer that one and instead he looked down on his knees. James was quiet for a while. Just when Harry hoped that man would leave, James sat back on the chair next to Harry's bed.

"Harry," James asked with a tired, but extremely calm voice. "Can you read?"

Suddenly Harry throat got so tight, that it was almost painful to swallow. Briefly Harry went through all his options. He could lie to the man, but James would probably easily see through it. Or he could just tell the truth.

"No."

"Oh."


	18. Pumpkin Juice

_Dear Caspian,_

 _How are you? Me, daddy and Sirius are fine. Harry too, he is our new brother. His family is bad and that's why he is staying with us. He is twelve, really thin and has green eyes like me. Sirius and James tried to teach him magic, but then they found out that he can't even read! So now Harry and I learn reading and writing together, but I'm better than him._

 _I miss you!_

 _Love,_

 _Phemie_

Caspian read through the letter a few times. He looked up to the professor's table in the front of the Great Hall. Lily was sitting next to Severus and McGonigal. Apparently, they had a heated discussion about something; Lily didn't even notice that Caspian was looking at her.

Who was Harry? Phemie's imaginary friend? But Phemie had gotten past that two years ago, why should she suddenly start to have imaginary friends again?

Phemie's spelling was still horrible and maybe he just didn't understand, what she was writing? She was six after all. Maybe she simply understood something wrong?

Why would his oh so busy father suddenly bother with another child?

"Mum and dad wrote me again!" Dudley complained, while reading through a four pages thick letter. "Seriously! How can they even come up with so much stuff to write? Oh, great! Mum included a recipe. She asked me to give it to the Hogwarts's house elves."

Ron busted out in laughter at that. "Your mum is brilliant!" Ron muttered.

Caspian on the other hand wasn't in such a good mood.

"At least they write you." Caspian retorted.

A bit puzzled Dudley turned to his cousin. "What do you mean? Your mum is a Hogwarts teacher. You see her every day. Why should she write you?"

The red-haired Potter looked down on his plate. Yes, his mother was in Hogwarts. But he hadn't heard of his father since Caspian had been send off to spend his last summer days with the Weasleys. Caspian had hoped to see his father at the King Cross station before taking the Hogwarts Express, but his dad didn't come. He had been the last child to enter the train in hope that the auror would miraculously appear at the last second.

"How about some more pumpkin juice, Caspi?" Fred asked pouring the boy a glass.

Caspian forced a smile at the twin and muttered a thanks.

After Caspian had been sorted into Gryffindor, the boy had expected to get a letter from his dad. While James had insisted, that he didn't care in which house his children got sorted into, Caspian knew that his father had preferred Gryffindor. When the hat had announced that he was indeed a Gryffindor, Caspian had been so excited about making James proud. He thought that his father would write him a letter, give him a present or even floo to Lily's office to tell him himself that he was proud. Instead during their first breakfast Lily had come to his table, given him a tight hug and told him how proud she and James were. Maybe Caspian was just a spoiled brat, maybe he got angry for nothing.

But he was. He was angry. He took a sip from his pumpkin juice.

"Dudley, how about a prank?"

* * *

Drinking a tea spiced with some calming draught James was sitting next to the burned table. He felt the urge to pour some whiskey to the tea as well, but he refrained from it. He was alone with the kids. With Harry being one of his charges he had to stay alert.

All those day James had thought that Harry was openly defying them. In truth the little boy had just been too scared and embarrassed to confine in the men. James took another large sip from his tea.

Merlin, had James really told Harry that he quote 'Somewhat understood his relatives?'. Did he just say that to a boy who almost got drowned by a man four times his size? A child that got starved, beaten up and locked up? Yes, Harry's accidental magic was fearsome, but nothing the relatives had done had been an appropriate reaction.

Against his better judgement James took out at the whiskey that Sirius had gotten him for his birthday almost a year ago. He finished the tea at once and filled the cup with the dark liquid, which smell reminded James of wood and smoke.

Just in that moment Sirius toppled through the fireplace into the room. He coughed a few times some. Dark smears of ash were all over his face.

"Bloody hell, I really should tell Kreacher clean my fireplace. It's horrible. I thought I would suffocate." He said, while trying to get some ash out of his eye. He walked over to James and sat down on a chair too.

"Merlin!" Sirius shouted after he finally noticed the burned dining table. "What happened?"

"Harry." James answered.

"That kid!" Sirius said, his tone was almost admiringly. "His magic reserves are almost as low as the one of a dead man. Still he can burn your whole bloody table."

"He also hurt Phemie." James added.

"What? No?! Is she fine?" Sirius asked the playfulness in his voice was gone.

"Yes. Just some burn blisters. But I can't heal them, so they will hurt her quite some time."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sirius said, but quickly added. "You know that Harry didn't do that on purpose right?"

James' lips got thin. "I know."

"You have also told Harry that it wasn't his fault, right?"

"Not exactly." James admitted. He had bloody told the child that he somewhat understood his relatives. He knew that he was going to regret his words for a long time.

"James! The little guy is probably panicking right now thinking that we will throw him out and that Phemie will hate him forever. You should have talked to him!" Sirius shouted at his friend exasperated, "I really don't understand you, Potter." James shuttered and looked at Sirius with surprise. Since they have been friends, Sirius had called him 'Potter' on very few, serious occasions. "Why is it so difficult for you to treat this child like you treat any other child? You are good with Caspian, Phemie, Dudley, Neville and every one of the Weasley children adores you. Harry isn't so different from them."

"Except he is, Sirius." James objected.

"No, he isn't."

"He is by far the most powerful child, I've met. Maybe the only one who will ever have a shot on defeating Voldemort. And yet he is just a scared kid, who can't even read. How is he not different?"

"Defeating Voldemort? This is what the child is for you? A little Voldemort-slayer?" Sirius questioned with disbelief in his voice.

"Oh, come on. Don't pretend that you haven't thought about it!" James argued.

Sirius didn't answer. His silence was enough for James to understand. Sirius _had_ thought about it.

"This war started before both of us even went to Hogwarts. Since Dumbledore's death we didn't have any hope anymore of winning this fight." James elaborated.

"It doesn't mean that you have to treat the boy the way you are. He is a child, not an adult wizard, yet. It will be years until he has control over his magic."

James sighed and took another sip of his whiskey.

"I know. I'm just … angry. Why does a little boy have to have all those powers? It's not fair."

"It isn't." Sirius agreed. "Give me a glass too, please." Sirius said finally calming down as well. He pointed to the whiskey bottle and James poured him a glass.

Sirius took a few long sips too. He looked at the bottom of his glass and frowned. "What was that you said before? He can't read?"

James nodded. "I just found out. He had stolen Phemie's reading book to teach himself how to read."

"Shit." Sirius hissed after another long gulp of the light brown liquid.

"I guess he was too scared to tell us. Me yelling at him probably didn't help. At that rate he will never catch up with his Hogwarts class mates. If we need to teach him reading and writing first."

Sirius grimaced. "Well, we will try I guess."

* * *

Harry had totally expected to get kicked out. He had hurt Phemie, put the kitchen table on fire and the men knew that Harry was illiterate.

But instead the men had shown incredible patience. James came to tell Harry that he was very sorry about what he had said before and that he didn't mean it. Harry didn't really understand what he was referring to, but he had accepted the apology. Then Sirius had told him that, what had happened wasn't Harry's fault and that nobody was angry with him. Even Phemie came to tell him that she understood that he didn't hurt her on purpose.

The dynamic in the house changed in the following weeks. In the morning Harry got taught to read by either James or Sirius. Sometimes Lily came, but only once a week or so. In the afternoon, the men would read him out of the first-year books and Harry had to learn through listening. It turned out to be incredibly exhausting to learn through listening, but even James was patient with him now. By the end of each day, he collapsed into bed right after dinner.

By now his hand had healed fine and except for a fine red scar there was nothing visible from the accident anymore.

"Harry should get a wand soon." Sirius suddenly said at the breakfast table.

James almost spilled his coffee. "What?"

"Well, the kid's hand is fine, his magical reserves recovered incredibly quickly, and he finally has some colour in his face. Why not start teaching him some practical magic." Sirius suggested casually. Harry's eyes widened. His own wand? He clearly remembered when he had first tried James' wand. Doing magic had felt so easy, natural even. "We should get him a wand this weekend."

James glanced at Harry and frowned. "I think it's too early."

"Too early? He is twelve. It actually already one year too late." Sirius argued. "We will bore him to death with all these theoretical lessons. We can't keep skipping the best parts of a magical education."

James didn't seem to be happy about Sirius suggestion. Harry recognized something like anger in the man's face.

"It's fine, Sirius." Harry interfered to keep the peace between the men. "I don't need a wand. I'm fine with theoretical lessons. Besides I'm sure a wand is incredibly expensive and I don't have any money. You have given me already so much, I really don't need a wand."

James sighed. "No, Sirius is right. If we want to get you with your education anywhere, you need a wand. Besides it will help with all the accidental magic."

Harry looked down on his plate. "I'm sorry about the accidents."

"No need to be sorry, kiddo." Sirius said. "On Sunday is Halloween. Phemie wanted to go trick and treating in Little Whining. How about we bring her over to Peter's house on Saturday. She can spend the day and night there, while we go shopping with Harry in Diagon Alley."

"I want to go to Diagon Alley, too!" Phemie objected.

"It's almost Halloween. Diagon Alley will be packed, sweetie." James explained patiently. "And Harry really needs some things, it will be boring for you. You can go with mom another week."

"But, please!" Phemie whined folding her hands into a begging gesture.

"We will bring you something from Sugarplum's Sweets Shop." Sirius offered to calm the girl.

"Really? Do you promise?"

James smiled. "Yes, we promise. So, how about we take three days off Harry's lessons and we start again on Monday."

Harry blinked in confusion. He got days off? From studying?

"That's a great idea prongs! Harry how about a ride on your new broom today! You haven't tired it yet.

Oh, no. Flying. That sounded scary.

"I don't know how." Harry mumbled.

"That's alright. I will teach you. Come on. Phemie you are going to ride with me. Harry, your broom is in the cupboard go fetch it."

* * *

"Daddy, daddy, Harry is an amazing flyer!" Phemie told her far as they ran back to the house. It had just started raining heavily.

"He is?" James wondered.

"Yes, prongs. You should have seen him. He's a complete natural on the broom." Sirius too complimented Harry, patting his shoulder. "But he sucks at catching the snitch."

"I just don't get how you can even see the snitch from a distance. It's so small!" Harry argued. Everything what was further away than five meters was a blurry mess for Harry. He really didn't understand how Sirius could see the snitch, if it was more than 30 yards. Still Harry was in a cherish mood. But he nervousness settled its way back into his stomach the instance he saw James looking at him. While Harry was quite comfortable with Sirius, he didn't feel that way with James. Sirius was too childish and sometimes Harry even forgot that he was an adult. James on the other hand was a stern man, although he had gotten nicer the past few weeks. But for once James wasn't frowning but smiling slightly.

"Good. Get dry. Lunch will be ready soon."

"Daddy, daddy!" Phemie pleaded. "I don't have a costume for Halloween yet. And Halloween is on Sunday and tomorrow I'm going to aunt Petunia!" She had been talking about Halloween for the past half hour after they had seen the bright shining orange pumpkins, which were growing in the Potter's garden next to a Quidditch field, which according to Sirius was only one third of the size of a normal field.

"Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry about that." James said sound honestly apologetic. "I completely forgot. How about your princess costume from last year? That one was nice."

"No! It's pink. I hate pink now." Phemie sulked.

"How about you go through the chest in the attic with all the old costumes." James suggested.

"Yes! Can Harry come with me? Is he going trick and treating with me?" Phemie asked now enthusiastically.

"If he wants to, of course. You can go up and check the chest."

* * *

Harry felt quite tired from the Quidditch game, but he followed Phemie up anyway. It was a dark attic, but well kept. It wasn't as dusty as one would expect. Dusting the house with magic was probably easier.

"My parents always put all the old costumes in the chest." Phemie explained. "Some are actually not even costumes. Look, my dad's old Quidditch uniform." Phemie said and pulled it out. "What do you think? It's good Halloween costume, don't you think?"

Harry shrugged his shoulder. "It's bit too big for you, Phemie."

"Dad can shrink it." She decided and started to put the uniform on. "Come on Harry, choose something too. Look an old Hogwarts uniform."

She pulled out a black robe. "I think it was my dad's. It's even in your size already. Come on try it on. It's the perfect Halloween costume. We are going to collect in a Muggle neighbourhood, they will not know that it's not even a costume." Phemie explained giggling.

Hesitantly Harry took it. It had a red, golden emblem. Gryfo – no Gry fin door- no Gryffindor Harry finally managed to read. "I don't think I'm allowed to try it." Harry said shyly.

"Yes, you are! Daddy will not be angry with you, because you tried some of his old clothes."

Harry shook his head. "You don't know that."

"In fact, I do. He is my dad. I know he will not get angry. Or do you want me to get down and ask him?"

Harry blushed. "No, it's fine. I will try it. Just don't tell him."

Phemie grinned. "Alright."

Slowly Harry changed his clothes and he was happy, that it was so dark in the attic. He didn't want the little girl to see all his scars.

"Looks good on you." She said smilingly. She continued to rummage through the box. She took out a picture in a frame. Her smile froze as she studied the picture.

"Look Harry." She whispered. Her eyes were wide.

Harry took the picture. There were two boys in the school uniform Harry was wearing right now.

"What about it?" Harry wondered.

"Look more carefully. At that boy." She put her finger on one of the kids.

At first, he didn't understand what had startled her so much, but then he understood. The boy looked a lot like Harry. There were some differences. For instance, the boy on the picture had brown eyes and glasses, Harry didn't.

"Who is that?" Harry wanted to know.

"My dad! And he looks exactly like you. Wait, you have to try on his glasses." She continued rummaging through the chest, until she found a small, wooden box. She opened it and took out a pair of glasses, which had been carefully wrapped in a red handkerchief. The frame of the glasses was out of silver. They were the same glasses the boy had been wearing in the picture. Harry carefully put them on and blinked a few times.

Phemie was standing in front of him gaping. She looked at the picture and then back at Harry.

"We have to show that to dad and Sirius! You look just like dad, when he was a boy." She exclaimed.

Harry got nervous. "No, please Phemie. I'm sure we will be in trouble."

"In trouble for what? He allowed us to try things on. Now come on. They have to see this."

"Phemie!" Harry was almost shouting now. "I'm not going down."

"Yes, you are." The girl decided. She grabbed Harry's normal clothes and threw them down the ladder to the floor under the attic. "Either you go down with the costume or naked. Your choice." She said.

Harry just sighed. With a wink of his hand he levitated his clothes up again.

"That's not fair!" Phemie argued. "Please, we can show it only to Sirius. Alright? For me?"

Finally, Harry gave in. "Alright but only to Sirius."

* * *

Harry was waiting in the attic, while Phemie went to fetch Sirius. Harry had walked to a small window at one side of the room was admiring the few. He took the glasses on and off. He almost started crying as he realized, that he suddenly could see even the smallest details. Trees had always been like green blurs to him. Of course, he knew that a tree consisted of leaves, but he had never really been able to see single leaves on a tree. Everything was sharper with the glasses. Apparently, Harry needed glasses. Well, he didn't exactly need them, he had survived without them till now, but glasses were now the first thing on Harry's wish list. Even before a wand.

"What is it?" Sirius asked as they had finally reached the attic.

"Harry was scared to come down with his costume. But you have to see it! It's amazing."

"Is it now?" Sirius wondered. Immediately Harry noticed the man getting stiff as looked at him.

Phemie put the picture frame in Sirius hand. "Look! Don't you think that's weird?"

Sirius had a quick glance at the picture and then continued to study Harry's appearance. There was a deep frown on the man's face.

"Prongs!" Sirius suddenly started shouting.

"No, no, no." Phemie objected. "I promised Harry that he only has to show the costume to you."

But Phemie's pleading was too late. James was already climbing up the ladder.

"What is, Sirius?" James asked.

"Look at the kid and look at photo, your mum took from us after our first year." Sirius explained giving the picture to his best friend.

James too only took a quick look at the picture and then turned to Harry.

For a long time neither of the men said anything.

"It's a coincidence." James concluded finally, putting the picture back into the chest. "Harry, take off those glasses. It's not healthy for your eyes." He ordered sternly. "You can keep the uniform as costume for Halloween on Sunday though, if you like."

* * *

 **Happy New Year, guys! I had hoped to get this story to Christmas before there is Christmas in the real world. Well, I almost made it to Halloween.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews.**


	19. Harry's wand

Harry had sneaked the glasses out of the attic and was now sitting on his window sill. He enjoyed just looking out and observing the surroundings. His heart was pumping fast though. He was highly alert and as soon as he noticed a noise, he would quickly hide the glasses in a vase. He didn't know how James would react, if the man knew that Harry had taken the glasses.

Harry was just looking at some owls flying outside, when he heard a loud crash. Quickly, he took of the glasses. The sound hadn't come from the hallway, but from the living room. Somebody had just flooed home. He could hear some voices. Scared, but curious none the less, Harry tiptoed towards the living room.

"Sirius, don't laugh." Lily was shouting. "Caspian and Dudley have been suspended for one week! In their first year! Before Christmas! Before Halloween! Not even the Weasley twins had managed that."

Harry quietly peaked into the room. Lily was standing there, next to her was the red-headed boy that Harry had seen at his first encounter with James.

"Oh, don't think I haven't seen that proud smirk on your face, Caspian. James say something." Lily kept yelling. Harry had never heard the woman shout. It was scary.

"Caspian, how exactly did you manage to get the Pompion potion into the Hogwarts meals? And why did it last three hours? The potion only works for a few minutes normally." James wanted to know.

"I've altered the potion a bit." Caspian admitted. "And we didn't put it in the meals. Dudley distracted the house elves, while I put it in the empty goblets. They've never noticed it."

"Caspian Potter! You can't just alter potions like that. You could have seriously harmed your class mates. And some of the first years really got traumatized by having their own head and the head of all other people in Hogwarts turned into pumpkins! It wasn't a funny prank. Hell, even I was scared. And how did you get into the kitchen even?" Lily scolded her son. "Wait, Sirius, I hope you didn't give Caspian that stupid map of yours! It's dangerous!"

Sirius raised his hands in innocence. "I swear I didn't. We've lost it in our last year of Hogwarts. The kids don't have it."

"Caspian, we are really disappointed. It's not the time for jokes and pranks. Your mother and I are under a lot of stress already, you can't get suspended like that. I know it is hard, but you have to act more mature." James argued.

"But you, Remus, Peter and Sirius had done pranks all the time!" Caspian defended themselves. "I know all your stories!"

"I never got suspended for a week, young man." James countered.

"Why do you even care?" Caspian cried now. "You didn't even care enough to come with me, when I got my first wand."

"That's not fair to your father." Sirius interrupted. "You know we were busy."

"Yes, I know. With another boy. Phemie wrote me all about him. You home school another kid, but you don't have time to go to Diagon Alley with your own son."

James frowned. "What else did she write you?"

"She is six, dad. She doesn't write essays. Just that he's some scared weirdo and that you and Sirius are teaching him instead of sending him to Hogwarts."

At that moment Caspian noticed Harry in the door frame.

"Oh, you are him, right?" The red-headed boy glowered at Harry. Shyly Harry entered the living room.

"You are wearing my clothes." The boy commented rudely. Harry looked down on his outfit. It was wearing a red sweatshirt with a golden snitch on it. Harry had liked this shirt in particular since he now knew now what a snitch was. His pants were plane black sweatpants, which he had to pull up from time to time since they were far too loose on him. But they were soft and comfortable.

"Harry why don't you go up into your room. We can talk later." Lily suggested gently, her voice sounded so different than from when she had scolded Caspian.

"Why is he even here?" Caspian insisted to know.

"Because your father and me want him here. It has nothing to do with you. And don't try to distract us from what this is really about! You are here because you've pranked the whole school."

Harry was still standing in the room a bit to scared to move.

"Harry, go up." James reminded him. At that Harry quickly scrambled away.

* * *

The next morning Harry was sitting naked on his bed except for his underwear. James, Lily, Sirius and Caspian had been fighting for much longer. It had been past midnight, when the house finally got quiet and one person after the other disappeared to bed. Later in the night, when Harry went to the bathroom, Harry could hear sobbing out Caspian's room. Harry was glad that James and Sirius had send Phemie of to her aunt just before Caspian had arrived. Harry hadn't enjoyed that they had been fighting and he was certain that the little girl wouldn't have dealt with it well.

James and Lily had seemed very angry and Harry had wondered how they had punished Caspian. Harry had never done a prank himself, but he always got accused after Dudley had pulled some pranks. In kindergarten he had to sit in the corner. Later when aunt Petunia heard about them, he usually got locked into the cupboard. He was lucky if Petunia didn't tell Vernon about it, because the large man wouldn't be satisfied with just locking Harry up and denying him food.

"Harry, it's time for breakfast." James said, while knocking on the door. Without waiting for an answer, he went into the room. He looked at Harry on the bed. "Come on, get dressed. It's cold. And take something other then sweatpants today, we are going to Diagon Alley."

"For your wand." James added as he recognized that Harry apparently had forgotten about it.

Harry just nodded. Satisfied James closed the door. What was Harry supposed to do? At the one hand he didn't really want to upset Caspian further and wear his clothes. But on the other hand he also had to listen to James. Unsure about how he was supposed to act, he just kept sitting on the bed.

Sometime later Caspian marched into his room without any warning.

"Breakfast." He stated looking at Harry. When Harry still didn't move Caspian went to Harry's cupboard unnerved and threw a shirt on the boy.

"Mum won't have us have breakfast until everyone is at the table. Take this and come down with me. I'm hungry. I only had a sandwich for dinner." He declared angrily.

Harry fidgeted with the shirt and looked down on his knees.

"It's your shirt." Harry whispered.

"Man, that's your problem?" Caspian questioned annoyed. "You really are a weirdo. Take it, I don't mind. I was just angry yesterday, that's why I said those things to you. Now come on."

Relieved Harry nodded and took the shirt.

"How did you get so many scars?" Caspian noticed as Harry pulled the fresh shirt over his head.

"I'm clumsy." Harry answered awkwardly.

"Nobody is that clumsy." Caspian deducted correctly. Harry just shrugged his shoulder. Luckily, Caspian didn't press the point further. He just glanced at Harry a bit concerned.

When Harry was finally dressed, the other boy dragged him out of his room and down to the kitchen, where Lily, James and Sirius were already waiting.

There were no pan cakes today, not that Harry minded. As long as there was food, he was happy.

"Can I have some Nutella?" Caspian asked unhappily looking at his toast.

"No." James answered shortly. He was clearly annoyed at his son.

"Come on, dad. How is that fair?" Caspian complained.

"You might have thought about the consequences before you turned all of Hogwarts into pumpkins. And you also dragged Dudley into it. No way, that my godson came up with that. No, that prank was an original Caspian." James started arguing again. Lily took her husbands arm and squeezed it.

"Not now, honey. Not in front of Harry. Caspian knows that what he had done was wrong and he will have to deal with the consequences. Caspian, first you have to eat at least two toast with something besides Nutella. If you are still hungry afterwards, you can have one with Nutella."

Caspian smiled again. "Thanks mum."

"So today," James began, "Sirius, me and Harry, we have to go to the Diagon Alley to get him a wand. Lily, if you have to leave for Hogwarts again, just send Caspian over to Petunia."

"I can stay at home alone." Caspian argued.

"No, this week you proved that you can't be trusted. We will come to Petunia for dinner on Sunday too. Phemie wanted to go Trick-or-treating there." James explained the plans for the weekend briefly.

"That's great, honey." Lily answered.

"Wait, I'm sleeping over at aunt Petunia's? Come on, why can't I sleep at home?" Caspian complained.

"With Dudley home, I'm sure Petunia could use some help with your sister." James answered, his teeth gritting with anger.

"And why can't Phemie sleep at home?" Caspian continued, "It's about him isn't it? You pick up some kid nobody wants, and suddenly he needs all your attention. You are even going wand shopping with him?"

"That's enough." James wanted to stop his son, but Caspian didn't let his father interrupt him.

"You didn't have time to go Diagon Alley with me. You didn't even bring me to the Hogwarts Express! Everybody's parents were there, but not mine. No! A million things are more important to the great James Potter. You could just ask Molly to adopt me. I look more like Weasley than a Potter anyway."

"You are being a complete arse, Caspian." Sirius said, much to Lily's anger.

"Sirius!", she shouted at the man. "Don't use that language in my house."

Meanwhile James took out five toast out of the bag with bread, smashed them onto Caspian's plate. He went to the cupboard behind him took out a jar of Nutella and pressed at into the hand of his son.

"Go up, eat in your room. I hope the Nutella makes you happy." James said coldly to his son. "You can stay at home alone if you want. I don't care. But first apologize to Harry."

"What for?" Caspian protested.

"You know what you said. Say that you are sorry."

The boy rolled his eyes. He stretched his hand out to Harry. Hesitantly Harry took it.

"I'm sorry for saying that nobody wants you." Caspian said, but his face didn't seem apologetic at all. Instead he just smirked at Harry.

"To your room. Now." James yelled now unnerved, probably knowing better than to press a better apology out his son.

After Caspian had left, it got quiet again in the kitchen table. Harry found this situation quite bizarre. Vernon had never forced Dudley to apologize to Harry. Not even after he had broken his bones or hit him so hard that he had a concussion. Harry stared down on his toast. He had lost all of his appetite after only two bites. He didn't feel comfortable with unknown situations. How was he supposed to react? It had never been the other kid who got punished.

Lily shot him some worried glances. "Sweetie, aren't you hungry?" She asked after watching him for a while.

Harry shook his head.

"He usually eats more, right?" Lily asked the other men now concerned.

"Yes, he usually eats like a little troll." Sirius chuckled. "If you are not hungry, Harry, just leave it be. We can grab a second breakfast later in town."

In that moment an owl came flying into the house. The first time Harry had seen an owl deliver letter he had been genuinely scared, but after living in the Potter household for a while it was as normal as somebody getting a phone call.

The owl let the letter fall in front of Sirius.

"Blimey. It's from the ministry. I have to go to work today. My holiday request got denied."

"Oh." James commented disappointed.

"Apparently I used up all my holidays." Sirius explained as he continued reading his letter.

"You didn't take a single holiday the past two years. How is that possible?" Lily wanted to know.

"Well, I used my holidays for order business." The man answered. "James, are you going to be fine with Harry on you own?"

James didn't immediately respond. After some thinking he turned to his wife. "Lily, maybe you can come with me?"

"Oh honey, I'm sorry, I have some potions brewing in Hogwarts, which I have to attend to soon. Also, I have to supervise some students, which have detention, and the kids from my potions club want to meet with me."

James grimaced and folded his arms. "I understand. No worries. Harry, are you fine with going just with me to Diagon Alley?" The man asked the boy. Some part of Harry screamed that he wasn't fine with that. James still scared him. But Harry didn't feel like he was in the position to deny going to Diagon Alley now.

"I'm fine with you." Harry said almost in a whisper.

"There's no need to be worried." Lily comforted him now. She took his hands into hers. Harry just nodded, although he didn't really agree with the red-head.

* * *

They flooed to Diagon Alley. Sirius had told Harry that the street was in London, but it really wasn't like any part of London Harry knew. The buildings looked like there were from another time, when London was still smaller and there were no cars but horse carriages. James was holding his hand tightly and for once Harry didn't really mind. The street was packed with people and they had to push and squeeze through the crowd. The wizards and witches were all in differently coloured robes and some with pointy hats.

"First we go to the tailor." James informed Harry pointing to a small shop. The boy nodded assuming that James needed to buy things besides his wand. They entered the shop called Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions. There wasn't much space and every corner was packed with rags with various clothes in what Harry thought were odd designs. A small, old woman in a purple robe approached them.

"My dears, how can I help you?" She asked smilingly. James pushed Harry in front of him.

"The kid needs a full wardrobe. Including underwear, pyjamas, socks, shoes, some warm winter coat."

The woman seemed quite surprised. "For the coming season?"

"For all seasons." James answered.

"What? No!" Harry protested. "I don't need new clothes."

"Yes, you do. You can't keep wearing Caspian's things." James countered firmly.

"I don't need much. Two t-shirts and some jeans are enough." Harry argued, but without success.

"The boy needs everything. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but good quality though." James explained to the old lady ignoring Harry's objections.

"I don't want you to pay for it!" Harry shouted now.

"Yes?" James smirked. "So, who is going to pay for it?"

"Nobody. Because I don't want it." Harry countered.

"You are going to take them, Harry. Not another word. You can cooperate and let Mrs. Malkin measure you and tell her what you would like to have, or we just pick the stuff out guessing your size and taste. Either way you are getting new clothes. You can't stop me from spending my own money, if I want to." James clarified his voice strict. With a sigh Harry gave up and stepped in front of the mirror, where the woman started measuring him. Harry had never chosen his own clothes before, so he really didn't know what he would like to wear. He explained to the tailor that he liked soft material and the colour red. Professionally and with a lot of enthusiasm she started picking clothes out for Harry. Harry had to try out what felt like hundred different clothes. James just sat the whole time in the corner of the room reading a newspaper only looking sometimes up smiling amused as he saw Harry's desperate face. It took them almost three hours and Harry felt like he had tried half of the clothes in the shop.

At the end she gave the bill to James, who just nodded and wrote a check to the woman. She complimented Harry's patience at the end and informed them that the clothes would arrive by owl at the end of the day.

Next, after James had forced him to eat some fruits they had bought at a nearby stand, they entered Ollivianders, the wand shop. An old man with white hair was sitting behind the counter. He was reading a book, but immediately jumped up as his new customers entered the shop.

"Ah, Mr Potter." He greeted the man with a wide smile. "Mahogany. Eleven inches. A strong wand, excellent for transfigurations. I hope it serves you well? It's a superb wand for an auror."

"Yes, yes. I really can't complain." James answered smiling slightly. "We are here for Harry, he needs a wand."

"It's a bit early for the coming school year, but too late for the current." Olliviander noted.

"Harry had been … sick. He is going to be home schooled for now." James explained briefly. The older man raised his brows.

"That is highly uncommon. But let us see, what we can do for him. After all every wizard should have a wand. Harry is your second son I assume? I just sold Caspian Potter his wand at the end of the summer. A fine one. Twelve inches, mahogany as well but a dragon heartstring. I thought he was a Weasley at first, since he was with Mrs Weasley and because of his red hair. I picked all the wrong wands out for him. Only after Mrs Weasley told me she is yours and Ms Evan's son, I finally found his wand."

"I'm really sorry for not being there. If it's any help for finding a wand, Harry is a very distant relative of mine, you can't even call us relatives almost. The similar looks are purely accidental." James clarified.

"Is that so?" Olliviander wondered. "Well, Harry, try this one."

Harry hesitated before taking the wand. He turned to James. "It's safe, right?"

"Yes it." Olliviander answered, "Why would you think it wasn't?"

"Because just a few weeks ago, I made a toy wand explode." Harry replied.

"Explode? My, I never heard something like that."

James grabbed Harry's shoulder tightly. "It just burned really. It scared Harry a lot. This is safe, Harry. Nothing can happen."

Harry nodded and took the wand into his hand. Immediately it felt like he got an electric shock. Before he could understand in his confusion what had happened, Olliviander had taken the wand from him.

"Definitely not that one." The man declared and took out another wand for Harry. Again, instantly the cupboard behind them exploded.

"Not that one either." Olliviander muttered to himself, rushing to the back of his shop to get Harry another one.

The next one didn't seem to satisfy Olliviander either and he pulled it from Harry's hand before the boy could even grab it properly.

Four hours later and they still hadn't found a wand for Harry. The shop was a mess, it looked like somebody had raided it. The stack of wands was now almost as high as Harry. Frantically Olliviander rummaged through his shelves. He returned with another wand and held it out to Harry.

Harry took it, but again the wand just caught fire. James reacted quickly and put the fire down.

"That was it." Olliviander admitted finally. There was a deep frown in his face. "Harry had tried every single wand in this shop. I don't have a wand for him."

"That's impossible." James objected. "I never heard about somebody not finding a wand at your shop."

"Because it had never happened before. But I swear none of the wands in this shop choose the boy."

James frowned. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know." Olliviander confessed. His gaze was fixed on Harry.

"He has used my wand before. Might that have caused the problem?"

Olliviander shook his head. "No, that wouldn't be a problem. A lot of children play with their parents wands before getting their own."

"Can't you sell him just any wand?" James proposed his voice a bit desperate. "He was quite fine with mine, so if he just takes any…"

Again, Olliviander shook his head. "My wands are all unbounded. So is the child. Either an unbounded child and an unbounded wand are attracted to each other or the exact opposite. Unbounded and unbounded can either lead to a great match or to a disaster. My advice would be to go to some other wand shops."

James blinked in surprise. He seemed to gain some hope back. "There are other wand shops?"

"Of course. I'm not providing wands for the whole world. The closest other wand shop might be in Dublin. Or actually the one in Paris might be closer." Olliviander turning to an old world map which was hanging in the corner of the shop.

"Paris or Dublin?" There was a little bit of despair in James voice.

"Yes, although I would recommend you Victor's wands in Moscow. An excellent shop. Twice the size of mine, I'm afraid to admit. Victor is a good friend of mine, we have studied the art of wand making together. He was my father's other apprentice." Olliviander said, while seemingly dwelling in good memories.

James frowned. He wanted to say something, but Harry interrupted him.

"Maybe I'm not a wizard after all?" Harry wondered.

James sighed and put his hand on Harry's head. "You definitely are a wizard, Harry. Is there any other option besides going abroad to buy a wand?"

"For now, he could use a second-hand wand." Olliviander suggested. "From a deceased wizard. It will not be perfect for the boy, but it will not outright reject him. It will make it hard for him at the beginning, but I understand that travelling abroad might not be the easiest option."

"My father's wand then." James concluded. "I still have it somewhere."

* * *

This hadn't gone like James had imagined it. While buying clothes for Harry had definitely been necessary buying a wand had been more urgent. James was angrily rushing to the next floo. Harry was following a few meters behind him. Harry was obviously tired after trying every wand in the shop for a little more than four hours. James just had any nerve left to be patient with the strange boy. They haven't exchanged a word since they had left the shop – not that the boy was usually talkative. But not getting a wand had apparently disappointed the boy a lot too.

What was wrong with this boy? Why did every wand reject him?

This little boy was definitely special, but that only made James feel uneasy. James was walking straight for a while until he suddenly noticed that the boy wasn't walking behind him anymore.

Instead he had stopped and was glancing at a shop for glasses.

"Come on, Harry." James pleaded. He was tired too. Why couldn't even wand shopping be easy with the kid? It had taken James five minutes to find his wand, back when he'd been eleven. Lily had more trouble as most Muggleborns had. She had found her wand after half an hour.

Giving the boy his father's wand wasn't a long-term solution. But going to Moscow? That was the last James had planned to do.

He walked back to the boy and grabbed his arm, but Harry just continued standing there. He still was staring at the shop for glasses.

"Can I ask you something, Mr Potter?" Harry asked suddenly and made James shudder. The kid called him Mr Potter? James just realized that Harry had never really addressed him. Harry barely even spoke in front of him and only, if James asked him something.

"James is fine, kiddo." He answered unnerved. "And yes, you can ask me something."

The little boy blushed and started studying his shoes again.

"Please don't be angry." Harry pleaded.

"I won't be." James promised starting to feel nervous. What was this about?

"Uh, could I borrow your glasses?" The boy mumbled still looking at his shoes.

"What?" James asked thinking that he understood the boy wrongly.

"Your old glasses of course. The ones in the wooden chest." Harry explained further.

"No, you can't. Why would you want to borrow them anyway?" James answered. His voice showed clear annoyance and he regretted his tone as soon as he saw fear again in the boy's face.

"Never mind." Harry answered quickly. "It was stupid."

Some part of James just wanted to accept Harry's answer and go home. James was hungry and tired. Another part of him knew, that Harry wouldn't have brought it up, if he didn't have a good reason.

"No, I will not let this go. I'm not angry with you, but I want to know what you want my glasses for." James said trying to sound patient.

Harry glanced at the shop in front of him again with all the glasses in the display.

"It's just, I kind of see better with them. Like all the leaves in the trees and birds in the sky. I think it's nice. But it's not important." Harry replied.

James sighed heavily and went with his hand through his hair. The kid needed glasses. And nobody of them had noticed it.

James looked around and pointed at a sign at the end of the street.

"Harry, can you read that sign?" Harry wasn't the best reader yet, but he was advanced enough to read single words.

"What sign?" Harry wanted to know. He squinted his eyes in a way which was very familiar with James. The boy was short-sighted just like James.

"Alright. Let's get you glasses then." James decided.

"No, I don't need new glasses. Your old ones are fine." Harry protested.

"No, they might help you a bit, but I'm sure they are not helping you perfectly. You need your own glasses. Here they can measure your eyes and you can choose any frame you want." James explained while pushing the boy towards the shop.

* * *

It was dark outside, when they finally arrived home in the Potter manor. Sirius and Caspian were sitting in the living room playing chess, when James and Harry almost fell out of the fire place.

"Hey you two." Sirius greeted them. "Found a wand?"

James didn't answer immediately. He glanced at Harry, who was fidgeting with the new glasses on his nose.

"Oh, Harry. You have glasses!" Sirius noticed surprised. He raised a brow and looked at James.

"Yes. Harry told me that he couldn't see well. I checked with the optician, his eye sight is quite bad." James said to his friend.

Caspian seemed to have paled a bit. "He looks like you, dad."

"A coincidence." James repeated again getting a bit annoyed by the fact that the boy looked so much like him. At some point there would be rumours. Harry could be his little clone. People might think that he was James' illegitimate child. James had tried to suggest Harry to take some glasses which were different than his, but the boy had really seemed to love the round, wired glasses.

"So, Harry, how do you like your wand?" Sirius wanted to know cheerfully, but the boy just turned his head down.

"We tried every wand in the shop. Olliviander didn't have one for him." James informed Sirius briefly.

"What?" Caspian asked exasperated. "Olliviander has wands for everybody. Every first year I asked has a wand from there!"

James sighed. "But he didn't have one for Harry. He can have my father's until we get his personal wand. I will try to find it before Monday. How about we order some dinner now?"

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter! Thanks for all the reviews :)**


	20. Little Whining

The next evening all of them got ready in the early evening to leave to Lily's sister. Caspian didn't want to wear a costume, but Harry changed into the old Hogwarts uniform. Phemie would have been disappointed if he didn't dress up.

Just as Harry wanted to join Caspian in the fireplace to floo with him to his aunt, James held the boy back.

"Harry," James began. "You know that Lily's sister's house is in Little Whining."

Harry looked up at James. That was the last place, where Harry wanted to go. But yes, he had overheard that it was in Little Whining. It had crossed his mind that he might accidentally bump into Petunia, Vernon or Dudley. He hoped that they would not go out for Halloween. Petunia hated Halloween. Instead of letting Dudley go Trick or Treating, she just let the boy choose every sweet he wanted at the shop. Dudley had thrown a few tantrums because he wanted to go Trick-or-treating with all his friends, but Petunia had always managed to calm him down with enough sweets and a few new toys. Dudley hated walking anyway and Harry had always suspected, that Dudley wouldn't even enjoy Trick-or-treating, if he would have ever tried it. There was a good chance, that the Dursleys wouldn't leave their house today and thus not meet Harry accidentally.

"You can just stay in the house if you prefer. I will talk to Phemie, if you don't want to go Trick-or-treating." James continued.

Hesitantly Harry nodded.

"Alright kiddo. Let's go. You will like Petunia, she is an amazing cook. I can't imagine how she manages to cook that well without any magic at all.", James admired.

Caspian took Harry's arm into a tight grip. Sirius and James didn't let Harry floo alone yet, fearing that he would end up at the wrong place by mistake. Caspian though seemed experienced with the transportation system. He shouted, "Private Line number four". Somewhere in the back of Harry's mind, he thought in panic that the address sounded familiar. But before he could run back into the Potter Manor, Caspian pulled him back into the green fire and they squeezed through the chimney all the way to Little Whining.

Harry fell to the floor on a soft carpet, while Caspian managed to stay standing.

"Caspian!" Phemie shouted and ran over to the boy. She, a boy and a man had already been waiting in the living room they had flooed to. She pulled him into a tight hug. "I've missed you so much!"

The man approached Harry and helped him to his feet. The man had light brown hair, almost blond. At some parts it was getting grey and he was balding a bit, but the man tried to hide it by combing over the bald patches of skin. He was quite small, and he had a big, round belly, although he would still look thin next to a man like Vernon.

"I'm Peter. You must be Harry. Nice to meet you, young man." He gave Harry his hand and smiled at him.

"I'm Dudley." A boy greeted Harry. Harry shuttered at the name. Bad memories flashed through his mind, but this boy wasn't his Dudley. He was chubby too and blond, but nowhere as obese as his cousin. He had some striking resemblance with Dudley, but his eyes were dark and he had a friendly wink in them.

"Hi." Harry muttered. Before Harry could observe his surrounding more, James and Sirius arrived through the chimney.

"Clean your feet at the carpet, Sirius!" The shrieking voice of a woman scolded Sirius. Harry didn't even have to look up to recognize the woman, who just entered the living room. This voice was one which Harry would never in his life forget. This voice had ordered him around, scolded and insulted him all the years of his early childhood.

"I had enough of you already! It's your fault that Dudley and Caspian came up with that stupid prank. It's because of all those stories you have told over the years!", she continued to shout at the man.

Petunia had changed a lot, Harry noticed after finally daring to look at her. She was chubbier than when he had seen her last. Almost twice the size. Her hair was short, and she had coloured it into a red colour. Harry found that odd, she had always emphasized that the only proper hair colours were blond, brown, black and grey. Everything else was unnatural. When Harry had pointed out, that a girl in his kindergarten had natural red hair, Petunia had gotten incredibly angry and had told Harry to go to his cupboard.

Frantically, Harry tried to find a way to hide. Maybe if he was quick enough, he could just floo back before Petunia took notice of him. And where were Dudley and Vernon? And how did Petunia know all those wizards?

"Honey," Peter interfered, "You are not being fair. Caspian and Dudley are old enough to know better."

Harry looked at Peter in confusion. Honey? Where Petunia and Vernon separated? Did Petunia remarry? A wizard even?

"Oh, Peter. Don't defend that friend of yours. Sirius, when are you going to grow up?" She continued to scold the man.

"I can go, if I'm not welcome here." Sirius said shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh, come on mate. You are not going to celebrate Halloween on your own." James interrupted.

"It's better than listening to her ramble." Sirius objected annoyed. "I'm going back."

He grabbed some of the floo powder and stepped back into the fireplace.

"Come on, both of you, you are behaving childish." Peter argued, but Sirius seemed determined.

Harry saw his chances and stepped into the fireplace too.

"I'm going with you!" He explained briefly. Sirius looked down on him dumbfounded.

"Harry! No!" Phemie yelled now. "You are staying here."

Sirius agreed. "Yes, kiddo. You have to stay here."

"I don't want to." Harry complained with a little bit of panic in his voice. He looked at Petunia. She looked back at him, but somehow Harry thought, that she hadn't recognized him yet.

James stepped to the fireplace and pulled Harry out.

"Sorry, that we started the evening with a fight, Harry, but it's going to be fine. Why doesn't Dudley show you all his toys?" James suggested turning to his godson.

"Yes, of course!" Dudley exclaimed and pulled Harry by his sleeve.

Just as Sirius wanted to throw the floo powder, Petunia stopped him, her face suddenly soft again. "I'm sorry, Sirius. Stay here. We should set an example for the kids and not fight. Come one, dinner will be ready soon. Kids, be back in fifteen minutes, alright?" Petunia was now looking at Harry. Really looking. She briefly glanced to James, frowning a bit. Whatever had made frown, she dismissed it quickly. As she smiled at Harry, he shuddered. Petunia had never smiled at him. How could she not recognize him? Why would she pretend not to know him? Why didn't she tell all those people that he was not worth having around? That he was a freak and a burden?

"James, why don't you help me in the kitchen?"

Dudley pulled a completly confused Harry after him. Caspian was following them rather bored. Only now Harry realized that he was in the house where he had grown up in. The furniture was different, but it was definitely the same floor plan. Where were his Dudley and Vernon? Did something happen to them? Maybe Petunia got sick and they left her and she can't remember Harry?

She was Caspian's and Phemie's aunt, too. Did that mean that Harry was related with them? But then, they would know about Harry, right?

Dudley stopped in front of the cupboard under the stairs. Harry's heart started pumping like crazy, when Dudley took the door knob in his hand. There were no locks anymore on the door of the cupboard, but it was definitely his cupboard. Why were they stopping at the cupboard? Was Dudley going to throw him in it? Maybe this is his Dudley after all and he had just lost weight and looked differently?

Maybe all of this had been plotted by the Dursley to get him back and to finally lock him up forever?

They had made up wizards just to give Harry some hope, they could crush.

Just as Dudley had opened the door to the cupboard, there were multiple loud crashes throughout the whole house. It felt like the tension in Harry's chest got released into the world, resulting into multiple explosions. Windows broke, dishes got shattered in the cupboards of the kitchen and light bulbs exploded. His magic! They were going to kill him. The house was in the dark now as all the light bulbs got shattered. Caspian and Dudley were startled. A pang of guilt hit Harry as he even heard Phemie's scream from the living room. But this was his chance. Everybody was confused, and it was his moment to slip away. He pulled his hand away from Dudley, who was still holding him. Then Harry stumbled through the darkness towards the main entrance door. Just as he had opened the door, somebody else had closed the door almost crushing his fingers.

"Where are you going?" Petunia asked towering over him. She pointed the flashlight in her had to Harry's face.

"I want to go." Harry pleaded. "Please, aunt Petunia. Just let me go." Tears were rolling down his cheeks. His heart was drumming in a quick, painful rhythm. His breathing was fast too and for some reason it felt like he just couldn't get enough air.

"Don't be scared." She answered in a voice Harry had thought was only reserved for Dudley. "There James and Sirius are both aurors. They can protect us from whatever attacked the house."

"It was me." Harry confessed hasty. Petunia would find out later anyway. "And let me go. You will never see me again, I swear."

Just in the moment James appeared behind Petunia. The tip of his wand was enlightened.

"Sirius and Peter are with the kids. Have you locked all the doors?" James said with slight panic in his voice.

"Everything is locked." Petunia informed briefly in a shaking voice.

"Harry, what's going on?" The man questioned him as he took notice of Harry, who was frantically pulling at the door, which was hold shut by Petunia. He sounded more worried than angry.

"I want to go! Please!" Harry started begging again.

"No, we have to find out, if we are under attack. We all have to floo back to our house. Death Eaters might get through the barrier any moment. Our house has a stronger barrier. Come now." James explained. He tried to pull Harry away from the door. But Harry hit the man's arm as James touched him.

"We are not under attack," Harry cried. "It was me. I … My magic… I destroyed everything. I'm sorry."

James enlightened his wand to be a bit brighter, so that he could see Harry better.

"What do you mean? You did this?" James said with a frown.

"I … uh… accidental magic. I'm sorry! Really! Just let me go." Harry cried. "Open the stupid door!"

Harry focused his magic on the entrance. At that the door got torn open. Petunia, who had been holding the door, got pushed and she fell on to the floor. Harry on the other hand had jumped away quickly enough not to be hit by the door. Harry stumbled down the few steps on the porch and sprinted down the dimly lit street. Adrenalin was rushing through his veins and he didn't even feel like he was running. But just as he thought that he had made it, someone caught his shoulder, wrapped his arm around his belly and lifted him up. James had caught up easily with the short boy.

"Let me down!" Harry shouted. He was struggling in James' grip, but the man was holding him firmly. Harry tried kicking the man, but James did not lose his hold on the boy.

"Let me down!" Harry screamed now louder, hoping that anybody would hear him. As a light got turned on in one of the houses, James put his hand on Harry's mouth, stopping him from screaming more.

"Calm down!" James ordered, but Harry wouldn't. He was trying to struggle his way out of James' arm, but James' grip only got painfully tight. He bit on the man's hand. James hissed, but still didn't let go. "What has gotten into you?"

The alarm systems of the cars around turned on, creating loud annoying noises.

"Stop it!" James yelled at him in anger. Just then Harry managed to kick James another time with force. This time he got a hit on James' crotch. The grip on Harry loosened for a second and Harry fell onto the hard asphalt.

James bended forward holding his hands protectively in front of his best parts. He muttered some swear words; he was clearly in a lot of pain.

Harry got up fast. Just as he wanted to run away, when he saw a big skull shaped cloud over aunt Petunia's house. The cloud was shining green, almost brighter than the moon.

"Mr Potter!" Harry shouted pointing at the cloud in panic. It didn't look like anything Harry had seen before. Some part of him knew that it was dark magic, although until this moment Harry hadn't even been aware that there was something like dark magic. A snake came out of the skull, making Harry shudder. Harry liked snakes, there were the only animals he could talk to, but this snake looked like one out of a nightmare.

"What?!" James spat angrily. The man was still recovering from Harry's kick. But he turned around to see at what the Harry was pointing with his hand.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no…" James started muttering desperately, his pain suddenly forgotten. "Caspian! Phemie!" He yelled and started running towards the house, not even looking back at Harry once.

Harry was scared as the man disappeared towards the house, Harry hated so much. He just wanted to run away and hide forever from those people. He didn't need all this food, nice clothes and glasses. He hadn't needed them all his life. Whatever that cloud meant it didn't concern Harry. This family didn't concern Harry. Now he had his chance to run away and never be found again.

But somewhere distant Harry could hear a scream. Harry froze. It was Phemie's scream. Nothing of this was Phemie's fault. Even if this was some elaborate plot by the Dursleys to torture Harry, Phemie certainly wasn't a part of it. She had liked Harry genuinely. No six-year-old could fake a friendship that good.

The cloud was certainly something dangerous. James' expression had shown horror as he had seen it. Phemie was in danger.

Instead of running away, Harry's feet carried him towards the house, towards loud, crashing noises.

* * *

 **Thank you for all the reviews!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter!**


	21. Death Eaters

Harry ran through the door of the house he hated more than anything. His foot hit something though and he stumbled to the floor. Harry turned around to see over what he had fallen.

It was aunt Petunia. She was lying lifelessly on the floor. Her eyes were still open and staring at Harry.

"Aunt Petunia!" He shouted. As much as he was scared of her, he didn't want anything bad happening to her. He ran over her body and shook her. Her body was limb, not reacting at all at being touched. She wasn't breathing. "Aunt Petunia!"

Harry tried to pull her up, but even her arm suddenly felt so heavy. What had happened? Harry couldn't see any wound or blood. How could she be… dead?

He screamed, tears running down his cheek. "Please. I'm sorry." He pleaded, but the stern woman just kept staring with empty eyes.

Then another scream startled Harry. Phemie. Brushing his tears away, Harry pushed himself up again. His legs were shaky, and his stomach felt queasy.

Just as Harry wanted to move away from Petunia, Peter came running into the room. He was carrying Dudley in his arms.

Peter needed a few moments to realize that the body on the floor was his wife and that it was Harry standing over her.

"What have you done!" Peter shouted at the boy, drawing his wand out. "You will regret this, boy!"

Before Harry could say anything to defend himself and tell the man that he had nothing to do with the death of his wife, Peter swung his wand and threw Harry across the hall way. Harry's back and head connected with the wall painfully. Harry needed a moment before his dizziness disappeared. He had hit his head hard and almost puked as he had somehow managed to stand up again. Peter was gone. He had fled the house bringing his son and himself to safety.

Harry stumbled towards the kitchen, where Phemie's scream had come from. He had to help Phemie! She was his only friend after all. He entered the kitchen, where James was fighting against three men with masks and black robes. Death Eaters, Harry assumed. Those people must be the Death Eaters James and Sirius had talked about. Caspian and Phemie were arm in arm standing behind their father. Caspian was holding his wand protectively, but not doing anything. Behind them was lying another lifeless body. Sirius, Harry realized in shock. They had killed Sirius as well. No, he couldn't be dead. He was just unconscious.

Harry's knees started trembling. He felt like he would puke any second. He liked Sirius, a lot actually. Why would Death Eater attack them? He looked to James who was struggling against those Death Eaters.

It was apparent that James was overwhelmed in the fight. A curse almost hit him, but Harry interfered. Wordlessly and wandlessly he had created a protective shield around James.

Confused James looked around until his eyes met Harry's. Not waiting for a reaction from the man Harry positioned himself next to James and started to attack the Death Eaters with forks and knives, which magically flew out of the cupboards. James silently accepted the help and continued to shoot various hexes towards the Death Eaters. Harry's shield worked well, no curse could hit them. His attacks on the other hand were rather pathetic. Not a single item had hit any of the Death Eaters and one Death Eater had even laughed as Harry had tried to hit him with a pot with green salat and carrots inside.

"Harry, listen to me." James began between two attacks. He was out of breath. "Take Sirius' wand. If somebody attacks you, point the wand on them and say stupefy. Bring Caspian and Phemie to the living room and floo home. Protect my children. I will fend those Death Eaters off until you are gone."

"What about you?" Harry asked. James looked already tired. Petunia was dead, so was Sirius. Harry didn't want the man to die. James wouldn't be able to fight all those Death Eaters by himself.

The man didn't answer instead he just blocked a curse, which had almost hit Harry. Then he levitated Sirius' wand from the man's lifeless hand and pressed it against Harry's chest.

"Run!" He ordered and pushed Harry towards the door. "Caspian, Phemie, follow him!"

"Remember. Stupefy!" He shouted after Harry as the children ran out into the hall way.

"Daddy." Phemie screamed as she saw that her dad didn't follow them but continued to fight the Death Eater. Caspian just dragged her by the arm and Phemie almost fell as she stumbled behind her brother.

Another Death Eater stepped between them and the living room. A red light flashed out the wand, but Harry built up a shield in time. He could feel that Caspian and Phemie were now hiding behind him.

"Stupifay!", Harry yelled at the man, but nothing happened.

"Stupefy!" Caspian shouted too pointing his wand at the man in the dark robes. The Death Eater deflected the spell easily with a shielding charm. Harry could hear a muffled chuckle behind the mask. Anger built up in Harry. How could this man laugh? Two people just got murdered, the little girl was crying, and this man just laughed at them.

"Stupify!" Harry tried a second time. This time he was focusing on getting the pronunciation correctly. A powerful red light shot out of the wand in Harry's hand. It hit the shield of the man and created a buzzing noise throughout the room. The red light didn't stop streaming out of the wand. Harry could feel that the man's shield was losing its resistance. Then suddenly, the shield disappeared, and the red light hit the man. He got thrown across the room and he had lost his consciousness before he hit the floor again.

Harry took Caspian, who was gaping at Harry, by his hand and pulled him and Phemie into the living room towards the fire place.

"How did you do that?" Caspian asked after he had found his voice again. Harry pushed him and Phemie into the hearth.

"Later." Harry replied. He took some of the floo powder and put it into Caspian's hand.

"Floo home with your sister." Harry requested. "I will get your dad." He looked at the two children, who stared back at him with wide eyes. They were so different from him, Harry thought. In their whole life, never had they had the need to protect themselves from anything. James and Lily had somehow despite a war kept them from any harm. Harry on the other side had been forced to protect himself ever since he was a toddler. First there had been his chubby cousin Dudley, who had bullied him, then there had been Petunia's shrieking voice, which had attacked him with spiteful words, and of course there had been Vernon, who had confused Harry with a punching bag. Later, on the streets Harry had to fight against other street kids and policemen. Even simple things like hunger and the cold had turned into almost deadly battles for Harry. For Harry this felt just like any other battle.

"Everything will be alright." Harry lied to comfort them. In this moment, Harry felt so much older than both of them.

Caspian just nodded. With shaking hands, he threw the floo powder into the fireplace and said "Potter Manor" as clearly as he could. But nothing happened. There was no green fire, not even a single sparkle. In panic Caspian took the bowl with the floo powder and tried it another time. Phemie and Caspian were both still standing in the fireplace.

"Do you really think, that you could escape that easily?" A female voice asked. Startled the kids turned around. Four more Death Eaters entered the living room. In the front was a woman. Clearly, she was the leader of the little group. She took off her hood and removed the mask. She had curly black hair, which made her look crazy. Or maybe it was her eyes, which made her seem like a lunatic.

"True Gryffindors." She commented, "So naïve."

She had her wand drawn and pointed it towards their direction.

"Grab Potter's son." She ordered to the other Death Eaters. "Don't kill the other kids. The dark lord wants to bargain with Potter, killing children will not help the cause."

They moved towards the children, but then hesitated.

"Which one is Potter's son?" One of them asked.

"The ginger!" The woman hissed annoyed. Harry could feel that Caspian grabbed Harry's shirt tightly in fear. Phemie was hiding behind Harry too. It hurt to hear Phemie cry. They couldn't defend themselves. They counted on Harry.

Harry gulped heavily. He took a step forward the men.

"I'm Caspian Potter." Harry told them and tried to sound confident. "Not the other one. That's Dudley. My cousin."

For an outsider it might look that Harry was incredibly brave. The truth was that Harry had to fight the urge to run away with all his willpower. There was this painful tension on his bladder and Harry thought that he would relieve himself any second. Harry wasn't brave, he was scared shitless and about to piss into his own pants.

"He's lying." The woman answered angrily, her voice high and nervous.

"He does look like Potter, Bellatrix." One of the Death Eaters argued with the woman.

Bellatrix studied Harry for a moment.

"Malfoy had said that Potter's child looks just like his mudblood mother." Bellatrix countered, but there was confusion apparent in her voice.

"He has his mother's eyes." Another of the Death eaters pointed out.

Before Harry could react, Bellatrix pointed her wand at Caspian and shouted, "Crucio!"

Caspian immediately fell to the floor, screaming in pain. His limbs were twitching in all direction. Caspian wasn't aware of any of the surroundings anymore. He seemed to be lost in a world of pain.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Phemie pleaded behind Harry's back. Bellatrix raised an eyebrow at her.

The curse stopped, and Caspian went limb. Caspian didn't lose consciousness, but his breathing was laboured.

"Girl!", Bellatrix said to Phemie. "Tell me who is your brother is. Or the boy will endure another round of the Cruciatus curse."

"He is." Phemie murmured pointing at Harry. Harry turned to Phemie and smiled sadly at her. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. There was a desperate and apologetic look in her eyes. Harry didn't really feel betrayed though. It was his lie from the begin with. He winked at her accepting her silent apology. Of course, the little girl would protect her brother, her own flesh and blood.

Harry stepped towards Bellatrix. His short, sad smile was gone again. "She is right. I'm her brother. I will go with you, if you leave them alone." He tried to sound determined, but his voice was shaking.

Bellatrix studied him for another moment. Her mouth turned into a vicious smirk.

"You are a brave one, aren't you? Almost like a Potter." She laughed. "But you are not Potter's son. I can tell that the girl is lying."

She turned her gaze towards Phemie again. "Not very Gryffindor at all from you." She remarked. Her laugh was almost hysteric now. "Maybe you will be the first Slytherin in the Potter family, girl."

"Grab the ginger boy." She repeated her command to her follow Death Eaters. The men marched in unison towards Caspian, who still hadn't recovered, but Harry stepped between them. 'Protect my children', James had asked. That was what Harry was going to.

"Stupify!" Harry yelled, knocking two of the surprised Death Eaters of their feet.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix cursed in return, but her spell was blocked by a shield. "Crucio!" She yelled again, but the curse got deflected again.

One of the two Death Eaters, who was still standing, cursed "Stupify" back at Harry. It didn't even feel like a wind brush for Harry as the curse hit his shield.

Bellatrix eyes were wide. "Who are you, boy?"

"Caspian Potter." Harry lied again.

"Liar!" Bellatrix screeched. "Crucio! There is no protective shield against the curse! Who are you? How are you doing this? Crucio!" She yelled frantically. Her curse hit Harry's shield again. "Crucio! Crucio! Crucio!" Harry didn't have time to counterstrike. Everyone of Bellatrix curses hit Harry's shield hard and he had to use all his strength to not let the shield go.

"Caspian!" Harry shouted desperately. "Get up. Get Phemie out of here."

The other boy scrambled to his feet, still shaking.

"I can't, Harry. I can't." He cried. "How? Where to?"

"Run, when I tell you too." Harry ordered firmly. While still holding his shield wandlessly Harry focused to prepare one last curse. "Curcio!" He yelled back at Bellatrix. But instead of making her scream like she had make Caspian scream, she just got knocked off her feet.

"Run!" Harry yelled before using his next curse.

Caspian took Phemie's hand and ran towards the door. But before he even reached it, the other Death Eater apparated next to the two running children and caught Phemie by the collar. He lifted her up and held the struggling girl in his arms. Just as he wanted to curse Caspian with his wand, Harry intervened and ran in front of Caspian protectively.

"Leave them." Bellatrix shouted to the man. "It's time that we leave. The Dark Lord wanted either of the Potter children. The girl will do."

Phemie was crying and trying to get out the hold, but it was pointless. The man was big and strong and Phemie a small six-year old girl.

Bellatrix went over to the two Death Eaters, who were still unconscious. Then before Harry could do anything else, they apparated away.

"Phemie!" Caspian shouted desperate, running to the spot where they were just standing a second ago. "Where did they go?"

Shaking Harry followed Caspian and stopped at the place, where Bellatrix had been standing. He could still feel her magic. He could feel how she had apparated away.

"I can follow her." Harry stated after thinking for a bit.

"What?" Caspian asked exasperated.

"I feel, where they went. The magical trace is fainting, but if I go now, I think I can apparate after them." Harry explained briefly.

"Take me with you!" Caspian pleaded, but Harry just shook his head.

"I will bring your sister back." Harry promised as he disappeared into thin air.

* * *

 **Sorry for ending the chapter with another cliffhanger! I will update the next chapter in a few days though.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for all the reviews.**


	22. Voldemort

Harry got greeted by a stupefy curse as soon as he apparated to where Bellatrix had taken Phemie. He got thrown across the room, but luckily, he didn't lose consciousness.

"That's him, Dark Lord!" He heard Bellatrix voice shriek before Harry could even stand up again. "That's the boy, who can shield against Crucio!"

Bellatrix was standing between about a dozen men in black robes. They were Death Eaters, although they didn't wear masks anymore. One of the men was holding an unconscious Phemie in his arms.

A man, the only one in a dark grey robe, approached Harry with a wide smirk. He looked old, although his black hair hadn't turned grey yet. He had a sharp chin and high cheek bones. His face carried an evil smile.

He smirked at Harry and without a warning he cursed, "Crucio!"

Harry had barely managed to build his shield up in time. The man's curse had much more force than the one Bellatrix had casted.

When the attack finally ended, Harry was out of breath.

"How very interesting." The man murmured with a smile. "Let's try this again."

"Crucio!" Again the curse hit Harry's shield. The man's attack lasted longer than Bellatrix short curses. Red light came out of the man's wand, a much darker red than the one of the Stupefy curse. It seemed that the curse didn't take the man any effort.

He was holding it for more than a minute, the Death Eaters around them were gaping at Harry. But the man's smirk got wider as he felt that Harry's endurance was meeting its end.

Then suddenly Harry's shield faltered. The light hit him painfully taking all the air out of him. There was a long, loud scream and it took Harry a few seconds to realize that he was hearing his own voice. It felt like countless small knives cut through his skin and bones. The pain was worse than anything Harry had experienced before. It was worse than Petunia's hot frying pan hitting his arm, it was worse than Dudley's heavy body jumping on him and it was even worse than Vernon's belt buckle.

It felt like eternity but finally the curse stopped. Harry didn't have any strength left. He couldn't even sit up. For a moment Harry didn't even know where he was. Confused he looked at the man who was now stepping closer to Harry.

The man crouched down next to Harry. He grabbed Harry's hair and lifted his head a bit, so that he could look Harry into the eyes.

"Who are you, boy?" The man said looking Harry deep into the eyes.

Harry had to swallow the pain away in his dry throat before he could answer.

"Harry." He answered with a raspy voice. He had screamed so much, that he had almost lost his voice.

"What's your last name, Harry?" The man questioned further. For having tortured Harry a second ago, he sounded almost friendly.

"I don't know." Harry answered him with the truth. The man frowned for a second, but he seemed to believe Harry.

He pointed his wand at the boy for a second time. Harry tried to get away, but the man just pulled him harder by the hair. Harry was prepared for another wave of pain, but the man used a different curse.

"Legilimens." The man muttered tipping his wand against Harry's forehead. Harry felt something entering his mind. It felt like a cold, dark thought and Harry pushed it out immediately. The man smirked at him evilly again.

"Foolish boy." He commented. "You are strong, I like that. That's why I will give you chance. Either you surrender your memories, or I will get them by force. What's your choice?"

Harry answered him by looking at him in defiance.

"As you wish." The man snickered. "Crucio!"

This time Harry knew, what was going to happen. But even being prepared against the pain, didn't lessen the despair. It felt even longer than the last time. When the pain disappeared again, he was disoriented. The man was still holding him by his hair.

"Legilimens!" The man shouted at the boy, he didn't even let him catch some air. It felt like something drilled painfully into his mind. Harry tried to fend it off, but he was still weak and confused from the attack before. He saw the memories the man was looking into. Frantically he tried to pull the man out of his thoughts, but the man could brush him away easily.

He went quickly and effectively through his memories like if it was a magazine which one could just flip through. He started with the most recent events, when James and Sirius had found him, believing that he was a Death Eaters at first. The man watched the memory, where James told him that Harry might even be more powerful than Voldemort. This memory seemed to interest the man as he watched again more slowly. Next the man continued with how Harry had lived on the streets and in all those different families as the family dog. Finally, he ended up at Harry's earlier childhood memories. He saw Vernon almost killing him in the sink and Petunia telling him that he was a freak. Just as Harry thought, that the man had seen every phase in Harry's life, the man unlocked a memory, which was even new to Harry.

There was Lily, James and Sirius. They were younger though, barely out of their teenage years. Harry was flying on a tiny broom, Sirius was cheering at him proudly. This was before he had been with the Dursleys, Harry realized. Lily told Harry to stop flying. James picked him up and cuddled him in his arms and told him it was time for bed. Lily gave Harry a kiss on his forehead. It was a happy memory. Harry's only happy memory and he hadn't even remembered it till now. Had James and Lily known him as a baby? Harry could have stayed in that memory forever being cuddled and kissed, but cruelly the man flipped to the next memory before this one had been over.

He was in a crib. A woman was standing in front of him her arms wide to protect him. It was Lily Potter.

"Not Harry." Lily screamed. "Not Harry. Please not Harry."

"Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside now." But she didn't.

The man, the same man that was now standing over Harry reading these memories, just a bit younger, pointed his wand at the young Lily. "Avada Kedavra." He cursed.

Green light flashed out of his wand. It was the same green light Harry had seen so many times in his nightmares. And for once Harry knew what those brutal dreams had been about. About Lily dying. About _his_ mother dying.

Lily fell to the floor, dead. Then the man approached Harry's crib.

"Avada Kedavra.", he shouted again. Harry saw the green light again, but it never hit him. An invisible shield reflected the curse. It hit the attacker instead and he died. Then the memory faded.

Just as Harry was relieved that it was over, his torturer watched the memory again ignoring Harry's whimpering. Then he watched it again. It felt like he saw Lily pleading, screaming and die in front of him a hundred times, before Harry finally managed pushed the man out of his thoughts. Exhausted he looked up at the man.

"Crucio!" The man cursed him again and this time the man used the curse only out of the pleasure to torture him, not to for any other cause. After he was done, he let go of Harry's hair. He stood up gracefully and turned to the other men, who bowed in respect. He was their leader, Harry understood. He just had faced Voldemort, the darkest wizards of all times.

"Imprison him. Take the highest precautions with boy. I want him incapable of moving and of using any magic." Voldemort ordered.

"Yes, my lord." The crowd of people answered. Three of them moved towards the boy.

Before they reached Harry, Harry had managed to get on his feet again, although he almost couldn't feel them through the haze of pain, which seemed to be an after-effect of the Cruciatus curse. But his fear told him, that he had to act now. He looked at Phemie, who was still in the Death Eaters' arms.

"You are a stubborn child." The Dark Lord hissed in anger. "Crucio!"

But before the curse could hit him, Harry apparated to the other side of the room. He caused a moment of confusion, by apparating multiple times.

"That's not going to help you, Harry." The Dark Lord shouted into the room. "You can't apparate out of this room through my barrier! Stop this childish games."

Lastly, Harry appeared next to the Death Eater, who was holding Phemie. Then he touched the girl's head and finally apparated back to the house of the Dursley's.

The man had been lying. Although Harry could feel there was an invisible wall trying to stop them, he could apparate around it. It was more exhausting, but Harry managed to slip out by simply going around that imaginary wall.

Back to aunt Petunia's house.

* * *

 **Thank you for all the reviews! I will update soon.**


	23. Uncle Vernon

Harry ended up in his cupboard in Little Whining. He fumbled for a flash light, which Harry had hidden in one of the boxes, which Petunia had put into the cupboard, ages ago. He was relieved when he found it. He turned it on, looked around him. The cupboard hadn't changed a lot. There was still his small mattress and some of his childhood drawings were hanging there. It was more cramped though, with stuff he didn't recognize. Of course, they hadn't kept the cupboard empty for him. They probably hadn't thought that he would come back.

Why didn't Petunia recognize him, when she had met him earlier today?

And how was Lily his dead mother, if she as alive and didn't even remember that she had left her son to be raised with her sister?

Harry's head hurt as he tried to make sense of all this. It was almost as if all those people had split up personalities.

He felt utterly exhausted. He tried to wake Phemie, but it was pointless. The little girl was knocked out cold. Then he tried to open his little cupboard. He had to get Phemie back to James. Maybe the man would finally give Harry some answers, which made sense.

Or maybe it hadn't been Lily in his memory. Maybe he had just wished to have a mother like Lily, Harry concluded. That would make more sense.

He pulled at the door, but it was locked. Why was it locked? Earlier today there hadn't even been a lock at the door, Harry remembered.

Angrily Harry tried to shoot his magic at the lock. But nothing happened. He was too exhausted, Harry realized. His fatigue mixed with the lack of oxygen in the cupboard, suddenly made him feel very weary. He just closed his eyes for a second. A short nap would be alright.

* * *

"Harry, Harry." A small voice whispered desperately. Something was pulling on his collar with a lot of effort. Slowly Harry opened his eyes. Phemie was sitting on top of him. "Wake up." She muttered.

"Somebody is outside." She said.

Harry needed some moments to remember what had occurred that day. Right, there were in the cupboard after they had fled Voldemort. He could see daylight through the crack under the door. They had slept a whole night.

It was probably just James or Peter outside, Harry decided. Petunia was dead after all and Vernon and Dudley hadn't seemed to live in the house anymore. Death Eater could still be outside, but he had to take a chance.

Forcefully, Harry knocked on the door. "Open it! It's us Harry and Phemie." Harry shouted to whoever was on the other side of the door.

"Mum! Dad!" A young voice shouted back in panic. "There's someone in the cupboard under the stairs."

"Nonsense, Dudders." A woman replied firmly. Petunia. It was aunt Petunia. She was still alive! The Death Eaters hadn't killed her.

"Aunt Petunia!", Phemie yelled now. "Open the door. It's us. I'm scared."

"Vernon!" Petunia screamed now loudly and hysterically. "Come here! The freak! He is back!"

"Open the door!" Phemie requested now with more force, but also with more despair. Uncle Vernon? No, Harry thought. He couldn't deal with that man now. He couldn't. He wouldn't survive it. He wouldn't be able to protect Phemie.

"What?!" Vernon shouted. Harry felt his heavy steps above him, coming down the stairs.

"He is in the cupboard!" Petunia explained with a high-pitched voice. "Dudley, please go to the living room. I don't want you to see him."

"But mum…" Dudley protested.

"Now, Dudley!" Petunia ordered her son. She never had used that voice on him before. That tone had been reserved for Harry.

Harry heard the lock opening and suddenly they were blended by daylight. Phemie ran out of the cupboard towards Petunia.

"Aunt Petunia." She cried, hugging the woman by her legs. "I was so scared. So, so scared." The woman tried to remove the child from her, but Phemie clung tightly to her. Phemie hadn't even noticed that Petunia had changed since his morning. Her hair was black again, not died in a bright red colour. In confusion Harry also noticed that she had lost a lot of weight since yesterday. That couldn't be, right?

Harry looked around. The furniture and decoration also looked -except for some pieces- the same again as it had during his early childhood years.

"What is the meaning of this, boy!" Vernon shouted now. He pulled Harry out of the cupboard. Harry was five years older than he had been the last time, when he had last seen Vernon. But Vernon was still manhandling him effortlessly as if he was still only seven.

Vernon put his hand on Harry's throat and tightened his grip, so that Harry barely could breath.

"Let go off him." Phemie screamed. "Who are you? Auntie, do something!"

But the adults just ignored the little girl.

"I don't know." Harry answered Vernon struggling for breath. "Please, uncle Vernon."

"Why is this girl calling Petunia aunt?" Vernon wanted to know. Harry couldn't answer as he barely managed to breath.

"I want to know, what's going on." Dudley had returned. Harry had almost not recognized him as he was fourth the size, he had been as a younger child.

"He has a wand!" Petunia shrieked suddenly. "Dudley, go to your room. Now!"

"But mom!" Dudley protested.

"Vernon, he has a wand, that a weapon those freaks use." She explained briefly.

Vernon looked at the boy. He grabbed the wand and pulled it out of his hands. Frantically Harry tried to muster some strength to attack Vernon. He lifted a vase with magic and threw it against Vernon's head. Harry had hoped to knock the man out, but instead he looked more enraged. He threw Harry against the railing of the stairs.

Petunia had shoved Dudley out of the hallway into the living room, keeping the door closed with all her strength. His cousin was banging against the door, demanding to know what was going on. Phemie had dropped to the floor. The little girl was sobbing at the feet of her aunt.

Vernon's eyes met Harry's. "Why did you return, boy? What do you want?", he hissed.

"I don't know, uncle Vernon… Where is James? Please. I didn't know that you were here. We will go, just let me go." Harry pleaded, but without any success. Harry saw Vernon remove his belt and Harry knew exactly what would follow.

The belt buckle of Vernon's belt hit Harry's face, leaving an ugly bleeding gash. Then he kicked Harry, while also trashing him with the belt. Protectively Harry curled up into a ball. He was so tired. And exhausted. It felt like he had no magic anymore inside of him.

The abuse went on for a while and Vernon only stopped as Harry went limb and the boy didn't even put his arms up defence himself anymore. Phemie was crying and pleading, but nobody was listening to her. Petunia was holding her now firmly.

Then the men turned towards Phemie. "Now, you."

He grabbed the little girl by her collar and pulled her away from Petunia.

"Who are you?" He spat into the girl's face.

"She… she looks like my sister…when she was a little girl" Petunia stammered.

"Of course, I do!" Phemie argued. "She's my mom!"

Just as Vernon had lifted his belt to also attack the little girl, Harry found some last strength in him. He jumped to his feet. He tackled Vernon to the floor, then he grabbed the wand Harry had inherited from Sirius. Harry took Phemie's hand and wanted to apparate away. But just a second before Harry could leave, Vernon pushed Harry and the child stumbled and fell. Harry lost his grip of Phemie and Harry apparated away leaving the girl behind with the Dursleys.

* * *

Harry didn't recognize the space he had apparated to. In his despair, he had just focused on getting somewhere safe. But apparently his magic had a weird idea of safe. He was in a cold, dark room. The air he was breathing was moist and freezing. Harry tried to orient himself, but there was barely any light.

He had left Phemie with Vernon. She was in danger, he had to find a way back to her quickly.

He remembered that James managed to enlighten his wand. Harry was still holding Sirius' wand. Harry briefly focused on creating a light. Some small sparkles came out of the wand at first, but quickly as Harry practiced a bit the room got brighten up by a steady, white light.

It was a prison cell. Somehow in his fear Harry made himself appear in a prison. It was a small room out of concrete, barley five square meters. There wasn't even a window, only a thick wooden door with bars on a tiny window in it. It had a high ceiling though, which made Harry feel even more claustrophobic than in his cupboard.

"James?" A raspy, low voice asked from behind him. Startled Harry turned around. A man was cowering in the corner. He was skinny and pale, wild black curls were growing in all direction. His eyes were bloodshot red, and Harry could see something, which he thought looked like a hint of madness.

"James." The man repeated again. "You are alive. I thought you died."

"Sirius?" Harry gasped in shock. He could barely recognize the man, but the same grey eyes were looking at him. Sirius hadn't died! He was alive! But he also looked so different like he was deadly sick.

"James." The man said again and stood up. "I thought every day about you and Lily and Harry. You were the only thing that kept me sane in this hell hole."

He came closer to Harry, while Harry took a few hesitant steps away from the man. Was this man really Sirius? How could his hair have grown so much in not even a day?

"How did you get here anyway?" Sirius asked. "One can't apparate to Azkaban."

"What's Azkaban?" Harry questioned. At that the man frowned.

"How can you not kn…" Then a realization seemed to hit him and he stopped in mid sentence.

"Harry?" The man whispered now.

"Yes?" Harry answered. The man's eyes got wide. Then suddenly Harry found himself in a tight embrace by the man.

"Harry, Merlin. You are so grown up now." Sirius commented. Harry was confused. What did he mean? He just saw him yesterday. Sure, Harry might look quite exhausted now, but he certainly didn't look more grown up. Sirius was brushing through his hair and looked a long moment at his scar.

"You look just like your father." Sirius said nostalgically.

"You knew my father?" Harry asked. All this time the man had known his parents? And he didn't even tell Harry?

"Of course, I knew your father! We were best friends… Harry, what are you doing here?" Sirius wanted to know. His voice was low and suspicious.

Just as Harry wanted to explain himself and tell Sirius how Vernon had beaten him up and Phemie was still in Little Whining, it got incredibly cold.

It had been cold before, but this was a different kind of cold. Harry felt like all the warmth left him. It was as his body couldn't even fight the cold. In a matter of seconds his fingertips felt numb.

He could hear a high-pitched scream. A woman was screaming. Harry looked around to find her, but there was no one in the room except for him and Sirius. Sirius was on his knees, grabbing his hair like he tried to pull thoughts out of his head.

"Please, not Harry, please." The woman was whimpering. Lily?

Someone turned the lock of the door. Two large dark men in robes where in the entrance. Harry shuddered as he saw that they weren't walking but gliding through the air. He couldn't see their faces and somehow he doubted that they even had some.

"Stupefy." Harry yelled at the men, but nothing happened. Untouched they came closer through the red, buzzing light of Harry's attack. Harry tried to hold the curse, but he got too cold. At once, he wand fell out of his numb hands. It rolled away until it stopped at Sirius' knees.

Instead of red light, there was green light. "Please, not Harry." The woman was crying again. But Harry could hear her more clearly now. Harry was in a crib, the dark wizard was facing him. Harry had left the prison cell and he was back in his nursery.

"Expecto Patrumon." The Sirius shouted, pulling Harry back to reality. The adult wizard had picked up his wand, which had fallen out of Harry's hands. A large dog made out of light flew out of the man's wand. The dog ran towards the men – or rather creatures. The creatures seemed to falter at the light and fled.

The dark wizard and his mother were gone.

Sirius was pulling Harry up on his feet. When had he fallen to the floor anyway?

"We have to leave, Harry. Now!" The man said. He was holding the wand in his one hand and was dragging Harry towards the exist with his other.

"Can you swim?" Sirius suddenly asked. What why was that important now? Sirius was shooting several light figures formed as dogs into all directions.

"No, I can't" Harry answered.

"Shit." Sirius cursed, and Harry didn't know if the curse was a response to Harry not being able to swim or to the creatures which, seemed to appear from everywhere. The dogs of light were forcing some of them away, but not all of them. Slowly they were coming closer. And with them there was the cold again, creeping up Harry's back. "There is no way out, Harry." Sirius muttered between his attacks. Both ways of the hall ways were already blocked by the dark, ghost-like creatures.

Harry realized that they didn't have a lot of time. Sirius couldn't hold them off forever, the dogs of light seemed to get weaker. Adrenalin rushed through Harry's veins. They were in danger. He looked at the man next to him, who was protectivly standing in front of him. Nobody had ever protected Harry. Why would Sirius protect him? The man was getting exhausted quickly, the light dogs were apperantly using up the man's magic quickly. Harry had to help! They need to escape. Harry touched the wall behind him with one hand, letting his magic flow into it. He could feel that the wall was thick. Meters thick even. There was something like a barrier, but Harry's magic twisted and turned around it, finding its way out. Harry took one long breath. Harry had learned a lot about magic during the past month at the Potter Manor. But still, he relied on the technique which he had developed on his own to control his magic. As he inhaled, he thought about all his happy memories. They were quite recent and almost all of them involved Phemie. He even managed to smile as he thought how she would never loose her interest on her bright coloured pencils.

The air was fizzing with his magic. It felt like the air was statically charged and that thunder would start any moment. Sirius turned around to look at him with a mix of fear and surprise in his eyes as the creatures stopped moving forward.

Then as he exhaled Harry thought about everything that made him angry. Many things made Harry angry, but he was surprised that the first memory that appeared was Phemie facing Vernon. Vernon raising the already bloodied belt buckle at Phemie.

There was a loud explosion throughout the hall. A big whole appeared in the wall behind Sirius and Harry. Harry pulled a startled Sirius through the hole in the wall. Harry was running, and hadn't Sirius stopped him in time, Harry would have fallen down the cliff. There were on an island in the sea. Cold water was hitting the cliff under them merciless. It was storming outside and the sea seemed angry like as if it didn't want Harry and Sirius to escape.

"You can't swim, Harry." Sirius stated. "I don't think I can pull you all the way to the shore on my own. It's too risky."

Harry gulped as he looked down the cliff into the dark waves. "Could you swim to the shore alone?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"I could. But I'm not leaving you here. The Dementors will kiss you. You broke into Azkaban. We have to find a boat or something. Fast." Sirius explained.

"We could apparate away." Harry suggested.

"You can't apparate on the island. I don't know how you got here, but it should be impossible." Sirius said.

"I can turn into my Animagus form. I mean I'm much smaller as a dog. Can you carry me then?" Harry proposed.

"What? You are an Animagus?"

"Why are you surprised. You know I'm an Animagus." Harry answered. Was Sirius alright? How could he have forgotten that? He was the one that had even explained to Harry one lesson what an Animagus is.

"Alright. Questions later." Sirius said more to himself than to Harry and then ordered. "Turn into your Animagus."

Harry did as Sirius asked and turned into his small wolf form. Sirius seemed genuinely surprised, but he didn't dwell on it too long. Dementors were approaching them from the sky. Quickly Sirius changed into his dog form too, took Harry by his neck like a female dog carrying her cub and jumped with him into the cold sea.

* * *

 **Thank you for all the reviews! I got a few more comments on my last chapters than on my earlier ones. I'm glad that people are still reading my story. I know the plot doesn't develop as quick as in other stories and there are many questions unanswered. I hope I will manage to answer everything throughout the story though.**

 **I know I'm not giving poor Harry a break. Death Eaters, Voldemort, Uncle Vernon and now Dementors... Happier chapter will follow, I promise.**


	24. Confusion

Somehow the creatures hadn't managed to follow the two wizards in dog-form. The two Animagi hadn't changed back yet. Sirius was still carrying Harry and running through the woods with him. Although the storm had stopped, and it was sunny now, Harry still felt incredibly cold. He didn't mind being carried as he didn't trust himself to even manage two steps.

After what must have been almost an hour Sirius abruptly stopped. They had finally reached a road. There were still far off from any bigger city, but there were a few houses and a gas station next to the road. He let Harry down und turned back into his human form. Harry followed his example as he wanted to talk to the man.

"I'm cold." That was the only thing Harry could mutter through his stuttering teeth. He sat down on the kerb. He pulled the Hogwarts robe, his now Halloween costume, tightly around himself. But it didn't help him warm up as it was still wet.

"I know. Me too." Sirius answered softly. He kneeled down next to the shivering boy. He touched Harry's clothes with the wand and at once they got dry. Then with another well-practiced wand movement he turned the thin Hogwarts robe into a thick woollen blanked.

Harry knew that he should feel warmer, but he couldn't stop shaking. Like a tinnitus the woman's scream was still ringing in his ear leaving him cold and frozen. Worried Sirius pulled him up by the chin and looked him into the eyes. Sirius seemed to be very concerned. But Harry thought that Sirius didn't look good either. The man was pale and his cheek bones were much more visible than when Harry had seen him last. Sirius was cold, too. His lips were blue, but he wasn't trembling as visibly as Harry.

Next thing Sirius healed the gash from Vernon's belt buckle from Harry's face. Harry had completely forgotten about that and he hadn't registered that it had been hurting until Sirius made the pain disappear.

After a long sigh, the adult dried himself too and turned his prison clothes into some simple dark clothing. He picked up a little branch from the ground and turned it into hair bobble. He tied his hair back into a messy ponytail. He still looked sickly and a bit unhinged, but with his new clothes and his hair put together he didn't look like an escaped prisoner anymore.

"There is a shop, I will get some things. You wait for me, alright?" Sirius explained and pointed to the petroleum station next to the road. Harry only nodded.

Sirius came running back from the shop quickly like he didn't trust leaving Harry alone too long. He emptied a plastic bag full of sweets in front of Harry. Harry wondered how Sirius had paid for all this, but the wizard probably had found a solution.

"The muggle shop didn't have a pure chocolate bar. I took everything that contained some chocolate. Eat as much as you can." Sirius explained, while picking up a snickers bar.

Hesitantly Harry took a bag of M&Ms. Harry tried to open it, but his hands felt stiff. Any fine motoric skills had left Harry. Impatiently Sirius opened the bag for him.

"Eat." He ordered again. Why was chocolate the man's highest priority, Harry wondered. They had just escaped a prison which was apparently guarded by some scary magical creatures. But as soon as he ate five of the peanuts with cocoa around them, he felt a tiny bit better. Sirius had eaten his third chocolate bar by now. His cheeks seemed to get some colour back.

"Try this." Sirius said and put a Kinder Riegel into Harry's hand. "It's pure chocolate, although it doesn't look like it."

Harry was still confused, but too tired to protest or ask questions. Slowly he ate the chocolate bar.

Sirius put his hand on Harry's forehead.

"Are you a bit warmer, kid?" He asked, his voice still worried.

Slowly Harry nodded. He felt indeed a bit better.

"I don't understand why Muggles have to mix their chocolate with all this stuff. Peanuts, Caramel, Cocos. If you ask me pure chocolate is the best."

He sat down next to Harry and ate another of the chocolates, although it didn't look like he was enjoying it anymore.

"Harry, why did you come to Azkaban?" Sirius asked now. He looked at Harry and his eyes were filled with concern.

"What's Azkaban?" Harry wondered.

"The place we have just been to. A prison for wizards and witches. Nobody had explained Azkaban to you?" Sirius raised a brow.

"No. Why have you been there?" Harry wanted to know.

"I… You don't know?" Sirius wasn't looking at him anymore but rather on the floor. There was guilt on his face.

"No." Harry answered again.

"I… I was framed. They thought that I betrayed your parents. I didn't. I swear." Sirius informed him. His voice got more urgent and desperate as he continued his explanation. "It was Peter Pettigrew. He was the traitor. But I should have known. I should have stopped it from happening. I'm so sorry, Harry. I should have never suggested to James that Peter should be the secret keeper."

Harry blinked a few times. He didn't really understand what Sirius was talking about. When could he have betrayed his parents? They had died a long time ago, hadn't they? And what was a secret keeper and what did James have to do with his parents?

"I don't understand." Harry simply answered.

"I…" Sirius began, but stopped. "Harry, what happened to you? You look like you had a fight with a troll."

Absentmindedly Harry touched his face were the wound had been before Sirius had healed it.

"I got into a fight with my uncle. I apparated and appeared in Azkaban." Harry informed Sirius. Then suddenly his heart rate increased again. "Oh, my god." Harry yelled. "Phemie. We have to save Phemie. She is still with Vernon and Petunia."

Sirius frowned. "Who is Phemie?"

Confused Harry looked at the man. Was he sick? Did he get hit on the head? How could he not remember Phemie?

"Phemie. Euphemia Potter." Harry explained with a frown. "Are you alright? How can you have forgotten her?"

"Euphemia? James' mother?" Sirius asked bewildered.

"No." Harry answered. "James' daughter. Phemie. Your goddaughter."

"James doesn't have a daughter. He only had a son. You." Sirius argued. He stood up and looked down at Harry. "He died that Halloween night, right?"

"What? No?" Harry objected. James didn't die. Or did he? What had happened after Harry had left the man to bring his children to the floo? But James certainly wasn't Harry's father. "Are you alright Sirius?" Harry questioned again. "You look really, really bad compared to yesterday."

Sirius frowned. "Yesterday? When have you seen me yesterday?"

"At Petunia's house for the Halloween dinner. Then we got attacked by Death Eaters." Harry briefly recalled yesterday's events. "Don't you remember?"

"Excuse me, what?" Sirius stood up and put a hand through his hair.

"Halloween in Little Whining." Harry explained now a little bit more panicky. How could Sirius have forgotten everything? Did he got attacked by a strange curse? "Peter was there and Petunia. Dudley and Caspian got suspended from Hogwarts and they were there as well. I was outside with James, when there was green skull in the sky. He ran inside, and I followed him. There were people in black robes and masks. I thought those people were Death Eaters." Harry stopped and looked at Sirius uncertainly. The man had a deep frown on his face.

"What happened then?" Sirius asked, and the boy continued the story.

"Aunt Petunia was dead. At least I thought so. Then I helped James fighting them off. He gave me your wand. I thought you were dead too. He told me to get Caspian and Phemie to the fireplace and to floo home."

Sirius looked at his wand and gripped it tightly.

"Caspian? Who is Caspian?"

"Your godson!" Harry exclaimed exasperated. "Caspian Potter. James' son."

"Your brother then?" Sirius wanted to know. "James survived Voldemort's attack after all?"

"What? Voldemort wasn't there. Caspian is James' son, not my brother." Harry didn't understand. Sirius knew that Harry was an orphan with no family except the Dursleys, didn't he?

"Your half-brother?" Sirius suggested.

Harry decided to just ignore Sirius confusing comments.

"Anyway. The floo didn't work. There was this Death Eater woman. She looked crazy. They wanted to kidnap Caspian. I tried to protect them. I swear, James asked me to protect them and I tried. But they got Phemie and then they apparated away." Harry explained his voice was full of distress.

"That still doesn't explain how and why you ended up in my prison cell." Sirius said. "And you said we have to save her from Vernon and Petunia. Not from Death Eaters."

"I went after the woman." Harry offered to continue his explanation.

"You went after a Death Eater?" Sirius shouted enraged.

"Of course, I did!" Harry exclaimed. "They had Phemie. There was Voldemort and he attacked me. He read my mind even. Then somehow managed apparate away with Phemie. I wanted to go back to Petunia's house, where James was, but he wasn't. And the house was different. And there were Vernon and Dudley again." Harry continued. He himself didn't really understand what had happened after his encounter with Voldemort.

"Voldemort is dead. He died, when he tried to kill you." Sirius interrupted.

"No. He is alive. I saw him." Harry protested. Harry could hear Sirius gulp.

"Petunia is Lily's sister, right? Who are Vernon and Dudley?" Sirius wanted to know.

"That's what I don't understand." Harry admitted. "Yes, she is Lily's sister. And she is married to Peter, your and James' friend. And they have a son named Dudley, who is in Hogwarts like Caspian. But she is also my aunt Petunia, who I grew up with. She looked different today than yesterday. But yesterday she was with Peter and today she was with Vernon. And Dudley was a different Dudley. One Dudley is a wizard and the other one a Muggle."

Sirius sat down again. "Kid, you are not making any sense. Your aunt Petunia married Peter Pettigrew?"

Harry nodded.

"You grew up with Peter?" Sirius voice bristled with anger.

"What? No. I grew up with uncle Vernon." It was impossible to understand everything now. It was confusing. It was like there were two different Petunias, which were the same, but not really.

"And Phemie is with uncle Vernon! We have to safe her!" Harry shouted at the man now.

"Why do we need to save her from your uncle? You grew up with him, right?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, but he is mean. He beat me up and then he raised his belt at Phemie. I wanted to apparate somewhere safe with her, but I let go of her before I disappeared. And I apparated to Azkaban." Harry ended the story.

"Wait. You want to apparate somewhere safe and the first thing that comes up in our mind is a prison?" Sirius doubted.

"I… my magic decides. I just wanted to get away. Come on, apparate us to Little Whining."

Sirius sighed heavily. "I don't understand a thing of what you just told me. But it sound like…Phemie… is in danger. I will go with you to your relative's house and see about … Phemie. I can't apparate though. Never learned it. And you shouldn't either. It's highly dangerous. You are not even what? Thirteen?"

"What? Of course, you can apparate! I saw you do it!" Harry protested.

"No, I can't. I never took the lessons in sixth grade. My parents wouldn't have paid for it and I didn't let James' parents pay for it. Azkaban doesn't offer lessons either." Sirius informed him and scoffed sarcastically at the end.

"But..." Harry argued again. "I can apparate. It's easy."

"You are as pale as a ghost and shaking. I'm not trusting you to walk, nevertheless apparate us through the country. Just wait here. I will get us some Muggle transport vehicle and we can drive to Little Whining."

Again, Sirius left Harry alone in a rush, just to come back half an hour later on a motorcycle.

"Did you just steal that?" Harry asked his eyes wide.

"I am a wanted criminal." Sirius said with a smirk. "This doesn't change a thing. Take the helmet and hop on. I got a map, too. We should be there before it gets dark."

* * *

Sirius wasn't right. The sky was pitch black as he stopped his vehicle -the second one he had stolen that day- in front of the house number four. They had gotten into a few traffic jams and they had even been chased by the police for some part of their road trip. After the police chase Sirius had decided that it was for the best to just change the cycle.

"That's it? That house?" Sirius asked Harry, who had just taken of his helmet. Timidly Harry nodded. He was already tired and really didn't want to face Vernon again. At least he would be safe with Sirius on his side.

"Alright. Let's get the girl." Sirius said and helped Harry from the motorcycle.

Before Harry could ring the door, Sirius opened the door with his wand. Immediately Vernon, Petunia and little Phemie were running into the hall way. Phemie looked relatively alright, although Harry got angry as he saw that she had a blue eye and a split lip.

"Harry! Sirius!" The girl cried. She just wanted to run towards them, when Petunia grabbed her by the collar before she could.

Vernon had a rifle pointed at Sirius now. But Sirius didn't even bat an eye. Maybe wizards didn't know what rifle was?

"Sirius… that's a weapon. It can kill you…" Harry tried to explain in a whispery tone.

"I'm not stupid, kid. I know what a gun is." Sirius answered. In that second the rifle exploded in Vernon's hand and Sirius had a victorious smile on his face. The obese man began to totter. He tried to catch himself by holding to the railing of the stairs, but he rolled to the floor. Helplessly he was lying on his back like a beetle who got tortured by Dudley.

"Vernon! Are you alright?" Petunia asked in her annoyingly shrieking voice. Vernon just nodded as he tried to pull himself up – rather unsuccessfully.

"Harry! Explain what is going on. Why does she look like my sister? Why is she saying that your parents are alive? How is that possible? They had told me Lily and James were dead!" She wanted to know.

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but Harry didn't know what. He felt utterly dumbfounded. Had Petunia just said that Lily and James were his parents? But how? They would have told him, right? Explained it in some way?

Sirius stepped forward now. "Have you ever met a man named Peter Pettigrew?" Sirius asked back.

Petunia shook her head. "No." She answered briefly.

"How can you not remember Peter?" Phemie questioned. "He is your husband."

Petunia started laughing hysterically. "See? That girl doesn't make any sense. The whole day she tried to convince me of some Peter and a different Dudley. A Dudley, who goes to Hogwarts even."

Sirius frowned and looked at Harry now. "Get your sister and we will be out of here. It won't be long before the ministry will start looking here for me."

"She is not my sister…" Harry said.

"Get her. Now!" Sirius ordered.

Harry went to Petunia and Phemie. Petunia let go off Phemie and let Harry lead her away.

"It's your lucky day, Petunia. If I wouldn't be in such a rush, I would hex you and you husband into the pigs you are." Sirius spat. "Your sister would turn into her grave, if she would see how you behave towards her son."

"Mummy isn't dead!" Phemie protested, but Harry just pulled her closer against him to quiet her down.

"Obliviate." Sirius said and targeted the wand against Vernon and Petunia.

* * *

 **A new chapter... A rather confusing dialog between Sirius and Harry. I hope you still enjoyed it. Sorry, for not taking revenge on the Dursleys (yet), they certainly would deserve it.**

 **Thank you for all the reviews.**


	25. Dimension Traveller

They had another long drive – this time in Vernon's car. Sirius had taken the keys from the man, while he had been unconscious. The drive back had been a quiet one. After a lot of crying, Phemie had finally fallen asleep next to Harry. Sirius seemed to be lost in thought and glanced a few times Harry and Phemie with deep concern on his face.

They arrived back in the Grimmauld Place. To Harry's surprise the house had been located in the Muggle part of London. Suddenly the place shoved between some well-kept Muggle houses. Phemie had seen it happening before, she wasn't very surprised, Harry on the other hand was baffled by the wizarding world once again.

The Grimmauld Place looked different though, Harry thought as they entered the old house. It was much dustier than when Harry had been there first a few weeks ago. Phemie noticed it too.

"Sirius, why is your house so dirty?" She asked rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Can we floo home now? I want mummy."

Sirius didn't answer.

He squatted down next to Phemie and took one of her hands into his.

"Your parents are Lily and James Potter?" Sirius asked. Phemie's eyes widened in fear and confusion. She turned to Harry, who also couldn't offer her an explanation for Sirius' odd behaviour. She took one step back from Sirius.

"How do you know Harry, Phemie?" Sirius wanted to know now.

"I… We found him. Don't you remember? A few weeks back? He was a dog, but you and dad found out that he was an Animagus. Are you alright, Sirius? You look weird." She answered with a shaking voice.

Sirius scratched his dirty hair. He opened the first bottom his shirt like he had a hard time breathing. Nervously he walked up and down. He turned a few times to the children like he wanted to ask something, but he stopped every time. He looked a bit unhinged.

Phemie was at Harry's side now. She grabbed Harry's hand tightly.

"What's wrong with him?" She whispered, but Harry couldn't answer. He didn't understand either.

Then Sirius seemed to have come a conclusion. He stopped pacing and faced the children. Quickly he raised his wand, pointed it at Phemie and whispered "Legilimens".

Harry recognized the spell immediately. He had been hexed with it just yesterday.

"Stop it!" Harry shouted at Sirius, but the adult ignored him. Instead he seemed completely drawn into Phemie's memories. Phemie had let go off Harry's hand. She was staring blankly at Sirius. She probably didn't even know, what was happening.

Harry ran over to Sirius and shook the man. "Stop it." Harry cried, his hard racing as remembered the cruel effects the spell had had on him.

But the man ignored him.

Harry made a fist and hit the man's chin as hard as he could. Finally, that got Sirius attention. He touched his chin, where Harry had hit him, absentmindedly. He was still looking at Phemie, although Harry knew that he had interrupted the connection between their minds. Sirius didn't really get angry though.

After a few seconds, Sirius raised his wand. again "Legilimens." This time the curse was directed at Harry.

Easily Harry pushed the man out of his thoughts, before he could see anything.

"Stop it. Don't do that." Harry said angrily.

Sirius didn't seem too surprised that he couldn't get through Harry's mental barrier.

"Tell me, Harry. Who are your parents?" The man wanted to know.

"You know, that I don't know that." Harry answered.

"What's your last name then?" Sirius questioned further.

"I don't know. And you know that I don't know." Harry replied a bit more desperate now.

"So, you got raised by that woman today? Petunia?"

"Yes!" Harry answered. His tone was pleading Sirius to stop this stupid questioning.

"Phemie, she is your aunt, am I correct?" He asked the little girl now.

"Yes." The girl muttered. "But she was different than usual. She didn't know me. She told me mum was dead. But that's a lie! Mummy is in Hogwarts. She is a professor."

Sirius seemed satisfied by the answers of the children. He had left them in the living room, while he ran upstairs. Minutes later he returned with a heavy, old book. It had to be a dictionary or an encyclopaedia, Harry thought. It was too thick to be anything else. Sirius threw it on the table in front of the dusty, squeaky couch and opened it. He was looking for something.

"There it is." Sirius said finally after having reread a page for the third time. "Dimension Traveling."

Harry blinked. "What?"

"You, my dear god-son," Sirius proclaimed with wide grin, "are a dimension traveller."

"Who? Me?" Harry asked. He was aware that he had just started learning about the wizarding world, but dimension travelling sounded a bit too crazy. Phemie's expression showed that the little girl didn't understand either.

"You can travel between dimensions. So far there have only been legends. It's been said that Merlin was actually a dimension traveller who saved King Arthur of this world after he had failed his Arthur of his dimension." Sirius explained.

"Those are fairy tales." Phemie protested. "It's in my children books. That's it! Those are good-night stories."

Sirius kept grinning. "Apparently not. Harry, you have somehow managed to travel to a dimension, where your parents are still alive, and you have two siblings. That's why there are two different Petunias, two mes and two different Grimmauld places. I've seen Phemie's memories. None of what she experienced would make any sense if she would have grown up in this dimension. I had to write an essay about dimension travelling during my Hogwarts times."

Harry wanted to argue that it was insane, but somehow that would place everything into order.

"Wait? A dimension where my parents are alive?" Harry questioned. "I haven't met my parents."

Sirius looked at him with a sad, grey eyes. "Of course, you have, kiddo." He said patiently. "Lily and James Potter are your parents."

"What? No!" Harry objected.

"Yes. You have probably never been born in their dimension." Sirius explained further. "I mean, they are not really your parents. They are just the equivalent to your parents in another dimension. They couldn't have known that you are their son."

Phemie blinked at them with wide, surprised eyes. "Harry is my brother?", she asked.

"Yes, he is. Your brother from another dimension." Sirius answered certain. "Harry James Potter."

"What? No!" Harry denied now vehemently. "I'm not James' son. I'm not. I'm not. My parents are dead. I'm not Harry _James Potter._ I don't want to be his son. I'm not Mr. Potter's son."

"Woah, kid. James can't be that bad. Even in another dimension." Sirius retorted chuckling.

"You know nothing!" Harry argued, his eyes filling with tears. "He doesn't like me. He hates me even. I can't be his son. I don't want to be. I don't want _him_ to be my father. He hates me."

Again, Sirius looked at Harry with sorrow. "I'm sure he doesn't hate you. He doesn't even know, who you are. Be patient with him. James is a good man. The best man I've ever known even."

"If I still had a father, he would love me. Fathers love their children. I know that they do. My father, if I had one, he wouldn't be like… like James." Harry cried, stomping his feet on the ground. "This is just nuts! I'm done. I'm done with all with you!"

Harry was marching to the main entrance now. As Phemie tried to hold him back, he just shoved her across the room with his magic.

"Harry, stop!" Sirius shouted at him. "You can't run away from this."

"Watch me." Harry retorted angrily.

"Phemie is stuck in this dimension without you." Sirius argued. "I can't travel through dimensions. I can't bring her back. You have to."

At that Harry stopped and clenched his teeth. "Then you have to learn it." Harry suggested, but Sirius only laughed.

"Merlin was the last wizard known to be a dimension traveller. Not even Dumbledore or Voldemort even dreamed of that kind of power. I certainly will never be able to do it." Sirius snickered.

"So why can I do it? Why me? I'm nobody." Harry protested.

At once Sirius looked old like all the weight of his life had finally caught up with him.

"I don't know. I wished that you were just Harry, my godson. But life is just… unfair."

"Bring me back, Harry!" Phemie was pleading now her cheeks wet from tears again. "Please! I want to go home to mummy and daddy and Caspian."

Harry sighed heavily. "Phemie, I don't know how."

"Please!" She whimpered now. Sirius took her into her arms and she gladly pulled her arms around the man.

"You have to try." Sirius said. "I'm sure James and Lily are already going crazy."

Harry went over to the couch and sat down on it. He was so exhausted. Apparation took a lot from him and taking another person even a small one like Phemie was quite difficult. He had only managed it before out of fear and despair.

"Tomorrow." Harry finally promised. "I don't think I can do it now."

"Please Harry. Now!" Phemie insisted.

"No," Sirius intervened, "Harry is right. It's too dangerous now. Harry and I just had a fight with Dementors. Apparation is nothing easy. You could get severely injured."

"Tomorrow then." Phemie agreed surprisingly quickly. She was still crying, but Harry could feel that she tried to calm her sobs.

"Alright. Are you kids hungry? It's already past mid-night, you should go to sleep." Sirius advised after glancing at a clock. Phemie just shook her head, she wanted to go to sleep.

Sirius carried the little girl upstairs to one of the empty bedrooms. Phemie was clingy, she didn't really seem to mind that this Sirius was a different Sirius than her godfather.

Harry on the other hand was too exhausted to get up and just continued sitting on the couch. James and Lily were his parents? How often had Harry imagined that his parents would suddenly appear and take him home with him. Sometimes in his daydreams they were very poor and that's why they had to give Harry up, but they had come back for him. Sometimes they had somehow lost him, when he was a baby. Another daydream was that they had just lost their memories during the car accident and after they finally remembered him, they took him back immediately. The scenarios were all different, highly unrealistic, but they had one thing in common. They were glad to have him back. Harry was always the one thing they needed to be a happy, complete family. But Lily and James already had a family. They didn't need him. Sure, Lily was nice to him, but she was a teacher. She was probably nice to every child like Harry's kindergarten teacher had been. Harry would make their life just more complicated. What did James say to him? That Voldemort might go after him? The last thing Harry wanted is to put the Potters into more danger than they already were.

* * *

Sirius came back. He had a bottle of an old liquor in his hand and the rest of the plastic bag with chocolate bars. He threw the bag to Harry and sat down on the couch opposite of Harry.

"You don't mind, if I have a drink, do you?" Sirius asked. "It's been years."

Harry shook his head and opened the bag with candy. He took one of the Kinder Riegel hoping it will make him feel better like it had earlier today.

Sirius was observing him silently, while Harry continued eating the sweets.

"You really look like your father." Sirius commented after a while. "I don't understand how prongs would think that it was just a coincidence. I mean you looked like him already, when you were a baby. But now…you could be his clone. You look just like him, when he first started Hogwarts. I feel like I'm travelling in time instead of dimensions."

Harry just shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Instead of participating in the conversation, he just put a hand full of M&Ms in his mouth.

"You want something to eat beside sweets? I'm sure Kreacher is somewhere in the house. I doubt that he died yet."

Harry just shook his head. He was satisfied with sweets.

"How come you never went to Hogwarts, Harry?" Sirius asked gently. "I saw in Phemie's memories that you are twelve, but you never even went to school. You didn't even know about wizards until this summer."

Harry just shrug his shoulder. "Maybe my aunt and uncle didn't want me to go."

Sirius just laughed. "Dumbledore wouldn't have allowed that. The saviour of the wizarding world not going to Hogwarts? I have no idea how the old man had explained that to the Daily Prophet."

"Saviour of the wizarding world?" Harry wondered. "What do you mean?"

Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Of course, you don't know. Every child of our world knows about what happened that night, just the Boy-Who-Lived doesn't."

"What night? Who is the boy, who lived?" Harry questioned further.

"You."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked. His heart started hammering. He had the feeling that whatever Sirius was going to tell him it wouldn't make his life neither easier nor better, but it might answer some of the questions burning on his mind.

"It's a difficult story to hear." Sirius admitted.

"I have to know." Harry kept insisting and Sirius just nodded briefly agreeing with him.

"The night, your parents died, pretty much eleven years ago, Voldemort came to your parents house." Sirius told Harry, but then paused. It was a story that pained the man. He needed a few seconds to find his voice again.

"He killed James instantly. Then Voldemort went to the nursery. He murdered your mother first. But as he tried to kill you, the curse back-lashed. He had killed dozens and dozens of wizards. Powerful wizards. But he couldn't kill you. A baby in its crib."

Harry gulped. He remembered. It had been his scariest nightmare throughout his childhood, scarier than anything the Dursleys or the streets had ever thrown on him.

"Avada Kedavra." Harry murmured.

"What?" Sirius jolted.

"That's the curse which he used to kill them. I remember."

"How can… Harry, never ever use that curse. It's an Unforgivable. It is dark and evil magic, which will make you forever unhappy. Wizards and witches are sentenced to life in Azkaban, if they use one of the Unforgivables." Sirius explained with a slight panic in his voice.

Harry nodded understandingly, and Sirius relaxed a bit. He took another sip from his drink.

"How come that I didn't die?" Harry wanted to know.

Sirius shook his head. "I don't know, Harry. Can you really remember that night?"

Harry pursed his lips. "I dreamed about it a lot, when I was younger. But then… Voldemort used Legilimens on me, when I came to save Phemie, and that's when I saw the full memory."

Sirius stood up from the couch alarmed. "He what?"

"He saw my memory." Harry repeated.

"The other dimension Voldemort saw that he couldn't kill you in this dimension and that he died?" Sirius asked to clarify.

Harry shrugged his shoulder. "Uh, yes."

Sirius put his hands in front of his face. From everything that had occurred today that was what made Sirius desperate?

"Harry. You can't return to Phemie's dimension. Voldemort will kill you the instant you set a foot into that world." Sirius explained to him. Now that Harry remembered the encounter, Voldemort had been quite enraged, but also confused by Harry's memory.

"But Phemie has to get back. You said it yourself. It's the only way." Harry countered.

"Phemie will be fine. But the other world will kill you Harry. Voldemort will come after you and thus also after James, Lily, Caspian and Euphemia. It's saver for everyone if you stay here."

"But… Phemie." Harry argued.

"I will find another way. There has to be another way. We have to talk to Dumbledore. He has to know something at least." Sirius tried to convince himself more than Harry.

Sirius was pacing in the living room for a while, while Harry was just staring at him.

"We have to get you to Dumbledore. He will know something. I can't be seen though. Every auror is probably after me and I will get kissed by the Dementors if they catch me."

"I don't understand." Harry said a bit desperate. Dumbledore? Dementors? Getting kissed?

"We simply have to get you to Hogwarts without them noticing me." Sirius tried to make clear. "Have you met the other dimension Dumbledore?"

"No. I don't know who that is." Harry stuttered nervously.

"The headmaster of Hogwarts. But he is also the most powerful wizard alive in this dimension." Sirius informed the boy.

"I promised Phemie to get her back to her dimension." Harry said.

"We will get her back, I promise. But you can't bring her back."

"But I have to! It's the only way. You said so yourself!" Harry argued.

Sirius shook his head. "Dumbledore will know something. Don't you understand? You will be in danger, if you go back!"

"I don't care." Harry protested.

"You will set everyone around you in danger, too."

He would? Harry wanted to say something back, but he closed his mouth. Sirius was right. Voldemort was dangerous and he had seemed interested in Harry. He had already killed aunt Petunia, he wouldn't let him kill anybody else.

"You really thing this Dumbldorth could bring Phemie home?" Harry wanted to know.

"Dumbledore. Yes, he's the only option left."

"But how do we get you to Hogwarts?" Sirius started thinking. "We could get their as Animagi easily, but we can't just leave Phemie home alone. She is only six and in another dimension."

"I could apparate." Harry suggested.

Sirius pursed his lips unhappily. "Can you apparate through barriers?"

"I think so."

"Alright, Harry. Tomorrow first thing you get to Hogwarts and you insist on talking to Dumbledore. If somebody is in your way, just show them your scar. They will know." Sirius didn't seem happy with this plan, but there also weren't a lot of different options.

"Not tomorrow. Now. We promised Phemie to get her home tomorrow. I will not make her wait any longer." Harry insisted.

"No. You are exhausted. You could will splinch yourself."

"Splinch myself?"

"Hurt yourself during the apparation." Sirius rephrased.

"Alright. Tomorrow." Harry agreed without fighting Sirius anymore. He didn't have to listen to Sirius, did he? He could just get to Hogwarts when the man was sleeping. Harry stood up. After Dumbledore had brought Phemie home, Harry would never have to see Sirius again. And thus avoid any punishment the man could come up with for Harry disobeying him. "I'm going to sleep now, then." Harry lied.

Sirius sighed. "You aren't going to obey me, are you? You will apparate as soon as I turn my back to you."

Harry didn't answer. The man had caught him quickly. With wide eyes Harry looked at the man, waiting for Sirius to get angry.

"Alright then. If you think you can do it, I have to trust you." Sirius said with a defeated, tired voice. "But take my wand at least. I will also draw on a map where you can find Dumbledore. It's night already, so don't get caught in the hall ways. Do you know where you will apparate to? What part of the castle to you know best?"

"The hospital wing." Harry answered.

"Of course. The only bloody thing you know is the hospital wing." Sirius muttered angrily. "Alright, I will draw you a map, which will get you to Dumbledore's office. I will hex that blanket back to a Hogwarts uniform. It will make it a bit easier for you to walk through the halls."

* * *

 **Thanks for all the reviews! They motivate me and I check far too often, if I have new reviews... I'm really glad, that I have people reading my fanfiction in fandom with hundred thousands of fanfictions.  
**

 **I will update on the weekend!**


	26. Lemon Drop

Harry was honestly not an expert on apparation. But he successfully appeared in the hospital wing. It was dark, and he could see a few people in the beds. Fortunately, the moon was shining bright enough through the windows so that Harry didn't have to enlighten his wand. The people were out of stone, Harry saw as he got closer to one bed. Statues. Why would anybody put statues in a hospital bed?

Harry was very practiced in walking quietly. Living with the Dursley's have been a good school for learning tiptoeing and he had sharpened his skill during his times of raiding the fridges of random families. Sundlessly he opened the heavy doors of the hospital wing and escaped into the hall ways.. He remembered them from when they had walked to Lily's office to floo to the hospital and later also to the Potter Manor. But on Sirius' improvised map Harry saw that he had to go somewhere else.

It was cold and Harry pulled James' old Hogwarts uniform tighter around himself and Harry rushed through the hallways. Then he suddenly heard a whisper. Startled he turned around, to see where the voice was coming from. It didn't sound human, it was more like whizzing than a human voice really.

But there was nothing. "Kill." It whispered.

"So hungry… for so long…time to kill…"

The voice was getting fainter. Where was that voice coming from? Why was there something in a school whispering about killing? Harry followed the voice, completely forgetting about the path Sirius had drawn for him on the map. The voice was coming out of the stone wall. Something had to be wrong with him, Harry thought shortly. Why did ran after something that was talking about killing? But this was a school and he couldn't live with himself if something would happen, what could have been prevented.

"Kill…" It was dangerous Harry thought in panic. Something wanted to kill in the school. Harry was running now, trying to keep up with the voice.

Then suddenly Harry bumped into something soft and fell on the floor. Startled Harry realized that a stern looking man was looking down on him. He had to be a teacher. Then Harry remembered. He had seen him briefly, when Harry had been in the hospital wing back in the other dimension. It was that friend of Lily's, the mean looking one with the greasy hair.

"Sir," Harry said. "Have you heard the voice?"

The man was visibly angry, he pulled Harry up by his collar harshly. "What are you doing outside of the Gryffindor Tower? I thought that the headmaster had been very clear. No one is to wander around the castle after class. Three of your class mates have already been petrified. Fifty points from Gryffindor. And I have some cauldrons for you to scrub for the rest of the week. What's your name, brat?"

"I, uh, Harry."

The man scoffed. He pulled him closer and looked at him more intensely. "Why are you wearing that outdated uniform?"

Harry didn't answer. His mind was trying to find a solution out of this situation.

"Potter?" The man suddenly recognized him perplexed. The man raised his other hand to Harry's face. Just as Harry thought that he would strike him, the man just brushed away the hair from Harry's forehead. He glanced at the bolt shaped scar for a while.

"What…how… Merlin…" The man muttered incomprehensibly. "Follow me, Potter." He ordered. "We have to wake the headmaster."

Harry didn't protest as he also wanted to speak to the headmaster. The teacher was manhandling quite harshly though, and Harry wondered if beating children was allowed in the wizarding school. Harry had always been glad, that kindergarten teachers haven't been allowed to be violent. That man however had twisted Harry's arm in an uncomfortable angle behind Harry's back and his wand was poking against Harry's neck. Quickly the man was steering him through the hall ways.

They stopped in front of a statue of stone.

"Lemon drop." The teacher said with an unnerved tone. The griffin stepped aside and freed the way to a spiral stair case. Luckily the man let go of Harry's arm as they climbed up the narrow stair case. But he still felt the man's wand pressing against his back las if the man tried to stab him with it.

They entered an empty office. It was marvellous, and would the situation be any other Harry would have enjoyed snooping around a bit. It had more books than some libraries Harry had seen and more paintings than some contemporary galleries. The people in the painting were sleeping soundly and Harry knew that they were moving portrays. He had seen one before, in Sirius' house, the portrait of his hysteric mother.

The teacher pushed Harry into one of the chairs in the office. "Sit." He requested only after he had already forced Harry to sit.

Rudely the teacher knocked against one of the paintings, waking a man in the portrait.

"Excuse me. I'm sleeping." The man complained. "The headmaster is in his bed chambers. He will be available again after breakfast in the Great Hall."

"It's an emergency. Tell him that Severus Snape has new information on Harry Potter." The teacher ordered harshly. The man in the painting muttered some complaints but vanished. How did the teacher recognize Harry even? He hadn't met him in this dimension, had he? Or did Harry accidentally go back into Phemie's dimension?

Only seconds after the portrait had disappeared, an old man entered the room through a hidden door behind a book shelf.

"Severus, to what do I owe this late-night pleasure." The man greeted. He was wearing silvery silk pyjamas under a dark red robe he had pulled over his shoulders. He had a long, white beard and Harry thought that he might as well be the oldest man Harry had ever seen. But there was also something young and alert in the man's eyes.

"I've just met the one and only Harry Potter, creeping through Hogwarts' hallways." Snape informed the headmaster and pointed at Harry.

The headmaster sat down at his desk and looked at Harry for a long moment.

"Harry, is that really you?" The man asked softly. "We thought we have lost you."

Lost him? Had they been looking for him?

Harry nodded hesitantly.

"Don't you think that is a strange coincidence, Albus? The chamber of secrets gets opened and Potter appears in our hall ways out of thin air." Snape argued enraged.

Dumbledore frowned. Some part of him seemed to agree with Snape's concerns.

"What are you doing here, Harry?" Dumbledore continued. "We have been worried. You ran away from your relatives, when you were seven and we couldn't find you anywhere. What have you done all those years? Who raised you?"

They had been looking for him? They knew that he had ran away? Harry gulped. There was so much he had to explain and justify. Dumbledore seemed gentle, but his skin crawled every time that Snape talked.

"I…uh…" Harry stuttered.

Snape sneered. "Just as elaborate as your father, Potter."

At that a mug on Dumbledore's table exploded, making the headmaster frown in confusion a bit. Harry expected the adult to get angry at him for his accidental magic. Instead the headmaster just smiled tiredly at him.

"Severus, why don't you be a bit more patient. I'm sure Harry had good reasons for all his actions." Dumbledore said reassuring.

"I'm a dimension traveller!" Harry blurted out deciding that Phemie was his top priority. If he would start with anything else, they would just get tangled up in his story. "I travelled into a different dimension where James and Lily Potter are still alive. Accidentally I brought Phemie back into this dimension and now I need to send her back and I don't know how."

Snape was snickered behind his back. "I've never heard such nonsense before. Dimension Travelling."

"It's not unheard of." Dumbledore argued.

"Yes, in fairy tales." Snape countered.

"But you have to believe me!" Harry protested turning to the stern teacher. "I promised to bring Phemie back, but Sirius says that it's dangerous for me to return."

Harry didn't add that he also didn't want to return. Because if he returned, at some point Phemie would tell Lily and James that he was their son. Harry was fine with not having parents. He had lived as an orphan almost his whole life. He wasn't sure though if he could live with being rejected by his parents. It didn't matter to him that they weren't actually his parents or his parents from another dimension. Somewhere in his mind, he didn't want to lose the believe in that they would have loved him had they just lived.

"Sirius? Sirius Black?" Snape spat through his gritted teeth. "He escaped today from Azkaban earlier today. Have you been in contact with him?"

"Yes." Harry confirmed. "But he is innocent. Phemie is with him and I promised to bring her back to her dimension."

"Who is Phemie, Harry?" Dumbledore wanted to know.

"James' and Lily's daughter. James and Lily from the other dimension." Harry informed the man.

"Wait. Let's say you are a dimension traveller." Snape began. "You kidnapped your own sister into a different dimension, left her with Sirius Black, who betrayed you parents, and now you can't bring her back?"

"I… yes, I guess. I don't think Sirius betrayed my parents though. And there were Death Eaters…" Harry had to admit, how Snape phrased it, it sounded quite bad.

"And you left this dimension leaving all of us – your relatives, the headmaster and all of your little fans worried. You can't just escape into a different reality." Snape berated him.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Harry defended himself. "I didn't even know I was in a different dimension!"

"Let's start from the beginning." Dumbledore interfered before the teacher and the boy could continue their fight. "Start from the day you disappeared from your relatives house."

Harry's eyes widened. "It's going to be a long story."

Dumbledore smiled at him. "We have all night. Lemon drop?"

"Uh, what?"

* * *

 **Thanks for the reviews! I will update in one week!**


	27. Bathroom

There was a long pause after Harry had recapped his life in twenty minutes. Harry hadn't been so sure about what information was important to the men and which not, thus Harry had tried to not leave things out, but also not describe things extendedly. At the beginning Snape had given some snarky comments, but he had quickly shut up. Both men had stopped interrupting him and had stiffly listened until Harry finished.

Dumbledore stared at Harry and to Harry's confusion the man seemed to fight with tears. Why, Harry had no idea. Harry dared to glance at Snape, who had sat down on a chair against the wall. The man didn't look back, instead he stared at the floor, his expression blank.

Did Harry do something wrong? Why were the men like this?

"So, eh. What about Phemie?" Harry asked after the men didn't seem to react to his story at all. Dumbledore seemed startled for a second like he had been interrupted from a deep train of thought.

"Who?" The man asked but collected himself quickly. "Phemie. Euphemia Potter. James' daughter, of course."

Dumbledore turned to Snape. "Severus, how about we bring Harry to bed and then we make our way to the school's library?"

Severus' expression was still blank. "Yes, headmaster. I will see what I have on dimension travelling in my private library, too."

Satisfied Dumbledore nodded. "I would fetch a house-elf to show Harry to Hogwarts's guestroom. But I believe it would be best to keep his presence as discreet as possible…"

"I will show the boy to his room." Severus quickly agreed. He stood up and gestured to Harry to follow him. Harry had a thousand questions on his mind, but he didn't dare to ask any. Shyly he nodded and walked towards Snape, wondering what the men would make from what he had just told them.

"Harry," Dumbledore said before Harry could follow the teacher out of the room. "Thank you for telling us your story."

Harry nodded and blushed.

"And… I am sorry, Harry." Dumbledore continued. "Your life was supposed to be different."

Again, Harry just nodded.

* * *

First Snape seemed to rush through the corridors. Harry could barely keep up. He found himself quickly out of breath and suddenly also dizzy. He stopped for a second and leaned with one arm against the wall to catch his breath.

When Snape noticed that Harry wasn't following anymore, he turned around.

Harry expected him to get angry, but instead the man seemed… worried.

"Are you in pain?" He asked his voice so much softer than before.

"No, eh. I just needed a break. It's fine now." Harry explained between laboured breathing. He quickly pushed himself off the wall again.

"You got hit by the Cruciatus curse not too long ago. Pain and discomfort is to expected.", the professor explained.

"I'm fine." Harry repeated again. Snape gave him a doubtful glance but continued to walk down the corridor. He had slowed down to a pace, which was almost uncomfortably so.

They stopped at a big wooden door, which Snape opened with his wand.

"It's the Hogwarts' guestroom. Feel free to use anything inside of it." Snape explained. It wasn't as big of a room as one would expect in castle as huge as the school. It was rather small, the size made it seem almost homey though. There was a strong smell of old wood. Harry's tiredness hit him hard as the warmth of the room wrapped around him.

"Thanks." Harry muttered. He finally felt relieved. Sirius had been right about him going to Hogwarts. So far, the professors had been quite alright. They hadn't offered a solution, but if teachers of a wizarding school wouldn't know a way how to dimension travel, who could possibly come up with a way to bring Phemie home?

"I will leave a pain potion and dreamless potion on the table. There are clean pyjamas in the cupboard." Snape briefly informed him as he placed two vials on a round table in the middle of the room.

"Thank you." Harry answered another time before sitting down on the bed.

Snape briefly nodded and turned to the door. But then he hesitated as he was about to leave Harry alone.

"I'm sorry, Pot… Harry. I'm sorry." The man said quietly, not facing the child.

Harry blinked a few times, trying to understand what the man was apologizing for.

"What for?" Harry eventually asked.

"I…" Snape began, "I… promised your mother to protect you. A long time ago. I failed to keep my promise."

"It.. it doesn't matter." Harry answered stuttering. "Just… just find a way to bring Phemie back."

Snape's and Harry's eyes met. Harry thought that Snape was about to say more, but then man suddenly left the room as if looking at Harry had become unbearable.

Harry sighed and laid down on the bed. He glanced to the table with vials Snape left for him. Harry couldn't bother to get up to get them and decided that since he wasn't in pain right now it would certainly be fine later. He was incredibly exhausted though. He curled up on the big bed. Dumbledore and Snape had both apologized. What if Harry would have never run away from the Dursleys? Maybe Dumbledore would have saved him? Maybe Harry would have gotten a chance to go to school? Would have Snape really protected him? Maybe everything had been just Harry's fault, because he just been too afraid of what Vernon.

* * *

Harry woke up in pain regretting not taking the potions Snape had left him. He had started dreaming about his encounter with Voldemort. Once again, he had relived his fear of losing Phemie, his confusion and horror as Voldemort had forcefully rampaged through his memory, the despair when the curse had hit him… He had woken as the Cruciatus curse had hit him in the dream. But the pain hadn't disappeared after he had woken up. It had followed him out of his dream into reality, torturing him although his dream was over. It wasn't as bad as the actual curse, but still he could barely not suppress a scream. His spine felt someone was bending awkwardly or stabbing it with knives, although Harry was lying perfectly still in his bed.

Harry must be suffering from the side effects of the Cruciatus curse.

His bed was wet with sweat by now and Harry was quite certain, that he had a fever. Slowly he dragged himself up. He should go get some water, he decided. If he had a fever, water was certainly going to clear his head.

Harry pulled himself out of the bed with great effort and walked over to the smal bathroom attached to his room. He quickly drank a glass of water, washed his face. Just as he wanted to leave the bathroom he heard a voice. "So hungry… for so long…time to kill…"

Startled Harry swirled around trying to find the source of the voice. Was it a ghost? Phemie had told him that there were ghosts in Hogwarts.

But what if it was a real threat? What if it wasn't a normal ghost, but one that would really kill? Should he get Snape or Dumbledore?

Harry decided to follow the voice threatening to kill. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to wander through the castle, but he decided that protecting anybody in danger, was more important.

Quietly he followed the voice out of his room. It seemed that the voice came from the walls, but Harry never could exactly make out the location of the whisper. First, he was tiptoeing through the hallways, but then the voice seemed to move faster. He ran after the voice through several corridors until suddenly it disappeared. Harry was standing in front of a bathroom door. Harry gulped heavily. The voice must have come from inside of the bathroom.

Just as Harry had his hand on the doorknob of the bathroom, he could hear other voices. They were different voices than the one he had heard before. Younger voices. But Harry didn't hesitate before going in. Were there students? The ghosts Phemie had talked about? It was in the middle in the night, certainly all the students had to sleep by now.

He entered and was startled as he saw three boys in there. They had bright red hair and Harry could bet, that they were brothers. Two of them even seemed to be twins even. They were students, not ghosts. Harry recognized the school uniform.

They didn't notice Harry in the door. They were busy with mixing something in a cauldron. There was no sign of whatever had threatened to kill inside of the school.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" The younger one asked doubtfully.

"Yes, yes. We have tested it a few times in Snape's class." One of the twins answered.

"You get to test exploding potions in his class?" The youngest wondered.

"Well, it's not really an assignment. You know us, Ron. Always concerned about extra credit in class." The other twin elaborated. "And now, hide behind us. One, two, three…"

There was a loud blast and if Harry wouldn't have built up a magical shield in time a dislodged sink would have hit him.

The sinks, which had been assembled in a circle in the middle of the bathroom, were gone now. Instead they were scattered around the bathroom. Water was flooding out of a broken pipe, making the floor wet quickly.

"Did it work?" The boy called Ron asked.

"Doesn't look like it." The one of the twins commented.

"Wait, there is someone." The other twin was pointing at Harry with wide eyes.

"Oh, shit." The other said. "Kid, are you alright? Did you get hit?"

Harry wiped some dust from his glasses.

"Uh, no. I'm fine. What are you doing?" Harry wanted to know. This certainly wasn't part of the school's curriculum.

"We…" Ron started, "We… were testing some pranks."

It looked like trouble what the boys were doing. Harry really didn't want to get involved into any trouble. Sure, Snape and Dumbledore had been nice to him. But what would they do if they would blame him for whatever the boys were doing? Some part of Harry just wanted to go back to bed. The other was still worried about that scary voice.

"Have you heard that voice?" Harry asked.

The boys blinked in confusion.

"What voice?" One of the twins asked.

Just as Harry wanted to elaborate, the pain in his back came back. His back felt like it was on fire and suddenly his legs gave in and a toppled to the floor. His forehead started burning too. That was new. His scar had never hurt before.

The brothers were quickly at his side.

"You don't look alright, mate." One of the twins said, while they helped him sit up. "You got hit by the sink, didn't you?"

"We are really sorry." The Ron added. "It's just… our sister…"

But one of the twins stopped him from talking.

"Do you need to get to the hospital wing?" One of the twins suggested "Or should we bring you to your house?"

Harry just shook his head, trying to stand up again. They helped him by pulling him by his arms gently. Then suddenly the younger one stared at the emblem on Harry's uniform.

"Who are you? You can't be in Gryffindor, I've never seen you before." The Ron was pointing at the golden lion on Harry's borrowed uniform.

"It's not my uniform." Harry tried to explain, but the three boys were glaring at him distrustfully.

"We've never seen you before." One of the twins realized. "It's not such a big school. Fred and I are quite good in remembering faces."

They took a few steps away from him. The twins drew their wand first, Ron quickly followed their example.

"Why are you wandering around in the castle at night? There is a curfew. Why are here in this bathroom of all places." The other twin asked.

"I'm not a student here," Harry tried to clarify, but that only seemed to raise their suspicion towards Harry. "And there was a voice…"

"The heir of Slytherin." One of the twins murmured. "It's genius, he sneaks in disguised as a student and opens the chamber of secrets. What did you do with our sister?"

"What? No. I'm the heir of nobody. I just had to talk to Dumbledore…" Harry began, but one of the twins threw a silent stupefy curse at him. Harry fended it of easily.

"Look," Harry started to explain again "I don't know who your sister is. My guest room is in this hallway and I woke up because my back hurt and then I heard this weird voice…"

Again, they tried to hex him, but this time the twins cursed at the same time. Harry could stop the hexes just in time.

"Where is Ginny!" Ron was shouting at him this time. He stepped closer to Harry. In his eyes was anger raging. "What have you done to her?"

"Really, I don't know what you are talking about!" Harry insisted, his forehead still throbbing in pain.

Just as one of the twins raised his wand again, the other twin stopped him. He pointed at Harry, was breathing heavily, struggling to stay on his feet.

"Maybe… maybe… we should get Dumbledore." The Ron suggested. The twins looked at each other and then nodded shortly.

"What about Ginny? We know she is somewhere here." One of the twins said. "That's what the map said."

"What about him?" The other twin argued. "He is not a student here. And he is sneaking around this bathroom."

"Because I've heard a voice!" Harry told them. "There was a voice threatening to kill. I followed it here!"

"There was no voice." One of the twins answered.

"There was!" Harry shouted at him. "It said that it wanted to kill!"

"Who are you? And what are you doing in Hogwarts?", one of the older brothers asked.

"Harry. I'm Harry." Harry answered, while adjusting his glasses, which had almost fallen of his nose in this tumult and brushed some dust from his face which was starting to itch. "I'm visiting Hogwarts just for tonight. I need Dumbledore's help with something. He knows I'm here. In the castle, I mean. I guess I'm not supposed to be here exactly, but…"

"Harry Potter…" Ron whispered first, his eyes getting wide. "Harry Potter!", he then shouted pointing at Harry. "He has the scar. The bolt shaped scar. It's Harry freaking Potter."

A little startled Harry stepped back. Sirius had told him that he was famous, but would people recognize him just because of the scar?

"It can't be." One of the twins said, looking as startled as Harry was. "Last year, when Harry Potter didn't come to attend Hogwarts, Dumbledore had to make an official statement that Harry Potter is missing…"

"I was missing." Harry explained. "Look, it's a long story. But there was something threatening to kill…"

"Why would you follow a voice, that wants to kill?" The other twin asked doubtfully.

"Because it could be dangerous!" Harry said, but the twin just raised a brow at him.

"We should bring him to Dumbledore." One of the twins reasoned. "He could really be Harry Potter, or just an imposter."

"We will get into trouble." Ron countered. "They will know that we outside of the tower after curfew and that we basically destroyed a bathroom."

"We are not going to risks anyone's safety, because we are afraid of lost points, detention and a howler from mum, Ron."

Ron just pressed his lips together and nodded.

"Come on, _Harry._ Let's walk to Dumbledore's office and see if he confirms your story." The twins tried to grab Harry's forearms, but Harry quickly got away from them.

"Please, no. I will be in trouble." Harry answered. Snape and Dumbledore certainly hadn't wanted Harry to wander around the castle without permission. He didn't know the men and what they would do if he disobeyed him. He needed them to be on his good side. He needed their help for Phemie.

"You are not going to be in more trouble than we are, mate." Ron tried to calm him, but Harry was not convinced. He wasn't a student at this school. And if Dumbledore and Snape wouldn't help him, Harry would have nowhere else to go.

"I… I can help you… You wanted to blast through something, right? That's what you tested here? I'm good at blasting things." Harry stuttered. "With magic. I'm good with it."

The twins shared a look, while Ron glanced at him slightly confused.

"We wanted to blast through the bathroom floor under the sink. We believe that our sister is somewhere there." One of the twins explained. "But our exploding potion failed. I don't see how you could do it."

"He is Harry freaking Potter. The boy who lived." The other twin said. "Let him try"

Harry took out Sirius' wand, his eyes fixed onto the bathroom floor. The other children looked slightly more afraid, when he saw the wand, but they didn't try to take it from him.

"Under where the sinks were?" Harry asked.

"Uh, yes." Ron answered.

Harry stepped closer to the floor and stepped on it slightly. He could feel that there was something beneath the floor. He stepped away from it again. Harry was exhausted, but he still had enough energy to try to make the floor explode.

"If I help you, you will not tell Dumbledore that I sneaked out of the guest room?" Harry wanted to know another time.

"We have a deal." The twins answered in unison.

Harry nodded and with swift movement of the wand he made the floor explode. The sinks shattered into even smaller pieces and bathroom floor tiles flew around in the bathroom. Dust clouded the room and the boys started to cough heavily.

As the dust had settled, they glanced at the middle of the floor. Most of the tiles were gone shattered into pieces, but Harry had just uncovered a stone floor.

"There is nothing." Ron was the first to say something.

"But she was there! She was in the bathroom on the map and then she was gone!" One of the twins said, his voice getting hysterical. "She has to be here!"

Harry crouched down at the floor and touched it. He could definitely feel, that there was something. But even he doubted he could blast through a stone floor as tired as he was right now.

"What should we do?" One of the brothers asked. The boys started a heated discussion.

Harry wasn't listening anymore. A piece of metal had caught his attention. There was a small snake engraved into it. On the backside there was something written on it. It wasn't the alphabet Sirius and James had taught him tough. But to Harry's surprise he could read the letters, he had never seen before. He went with one finger over the skilfully written engraving.

" _Open._ ", he read.

* * *

 **Hi!**

 **Thank you for all your lovely reviews! I'm sorry for updating much later than promised. I know how it feels, when you are waiting for a story to update and you never know when there is another chapter coming or if the author had simply abandoned the story.**

 **But you know how life is... I'm currently writing my Master-thesis and I believe you all understand that this is more important.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'm sorry about leaving you hanging at a cliff again!**


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